Kevin McCarthy Bio
Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January to October 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he represented portions of California in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 until his resignation at the end of 2023. McCarthy held a series of House leadership posts before winning the speakership in early 2023, including chief deputy whip, majority whip, majority leader, and minority leader.
His tenure as speaker was brief and contentious. He negotiated key agreements such as the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 but was removed from the speakership by a House vote on October 3, 2023, becoming the first speaker in U.S. history to be removed from the role during a legislative session. He resigned from Congress on December 31, 2023.
Early Life and Background
Kevin Owen McCarthy was born on January 26, 1965, in Bakersfield, California. He is the son of Owen McCarthy, an assistant city fire chief, and Roberta Darlene Palladino, a homemaker. McCarthy is a fourth-generation resident of Kern County, and his maternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant. Notably, McCarthy is the first Republican in his immediate family, as his parents were members of the Democratic Party.
McCarthy attended Bakersfield High School, where he played on the football team, graduating in 1983. In 1984, at age 19, he ran his first business selling sandwiches out of the back of his uncle’s yogurt shop on Stine Road, financing the venture with $5,000 he had won in the California State Lottery and later invested in the stock market. He went on to attend California State University, Bakersfield, earning a Bachelor of Science in marketing in 1989 and a Master of Business Administration in 1994. During his college years, he worked as a seasonal firefighter for the Kern County Fire Department.
Path to U.S. Politics
McCarthy’s political journey began in the late 1980s when he joined the staff of Congressman Bill Thomas, a Bakersfield Republican, serving in that role from 1987 to 2002 and later becoming Thomas’s district director. He rose through the ranks of Republican youth politics, chairing the California Young Republicans in 1995 and the Young Republican National Federation from 1999 to 2001.
In 2000, McCarthy won his first election as a Kern Community College District trustee. He was then elected to the California State Assembly in 2002 and became the Republican floor leader in 2003. In 2006, McCarthy was first elected to the United States House of Representatives as the representative for California’s 22nd district, succeeding his former boss, Bill Thomas, who retired.
Kevin McCarthy Career
Early Career (2007–2010)
Upon arriving in Congress, McCarthy quickly earned leadership positions within the House Republican Conference. As a freshman congressman, he was appointed to the Republican Steering Committee and was later chosen as chief deputy minority whip, the highest-ranking appointed position in the conference, after the 2008 elections. He was also a founding member of the GOP Young Guns Program and helped recruit candidates associated with the Tea Party movement for the 2010 elections.
During this period, McCarthy built relationships across the Republican caucus and demonstrated the fundraising and recruiting skills that would later define his leadership style. He also chaired the Republican platform committee during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.
House Majority Whip and Majority Leader (2011–2018)
On November 17, 2010, the House Republican Conference selected McCarthy to serve as House majority whip in the 112th Congress, making him the third-ranking House Republican behind Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He served in this role from 2011 to 2014.
After Eric Cantor lost his primary in June 2014, McCarthy was elected majority leader on June 19, 2014, assuming the position in July 2014. According to the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, he was the least-tenured majority leader in the history of the House of Representatives, having served only seven years, six months, and 29 days at the time. He retained the position through Paul Ryan’s speakership. In December 2017, McCarthy voted for the House Republican tax legislation and later encouraged constituents to check their paychecks to see the results.
House Minority Leader (2019–2022)
After Republicans lost their majority in the 2018 elections, McCarthy was elected House minority leader, defeating a challenge from Jim Jordan of Ohio by a vote of 159 to 43. As minority leader, he remained a close ally of President Donald Trump and worked to keep the Republican caucus unified in support of Trump, including during his two impeachment proceedings.
Following the 2020 presidential election, McCarthy initially supported Trump’s false claims of election fraud and signed an amicus brief supporting Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit contesting the results. He voted against certifying Joe Biden’s win in two states on January 6, 2021. Days later, he reversed course, blaming Trump for the Capitol attack, but by 2022, he had publicly reconciled with the former president.
Speaker of the House Era (January–October 2023)
McCarthy led House Republicans through the 2022 midterm elections, securing a narrow Republican majority. He won the internal Republican conference vote for speaker in early November 2022. However, at the start of the 118th Congress on January 3, 2023, McCarthy failed to secure a majority on the first ballot, with all Democrats and 19 Republicans opposing him. It was the first time since December 1923 that the first ballot did not produce a speaker. McCarthy finally won the speakership on the 15th ballot on January 7, 2023, after making concessions to the right-wing Freedom Caucus, including a rule allowing a single member to introduce a motion to vacate the speakership.
As speaker, McCarthy faced a standoff between the House Republican conference and the Biden administration that led to the 2023 debt-ceiling crisis. He negotiated the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which passed the House on May 31 and the Senate on June 1, with President Biden signing it into law on June 3, preventing a default. In September 2023, he relied on Democratic votes to pass a bipartisan continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown.
Removal and Resignation (October–December 2023)
On October 3, 2023, Representative Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate the speakership against McCarthy, criticizing him for working with Democrats on the funding bill. The motion to table the resolution failed, and the vote to vacate passed 216 to 210, with all House Democrats and eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy. His tenure was the third-shortest for a speaker in U.S. history, and he became the first speaker ever removed from the role during a legislative session. He announced he would not seek the speakership again.
On December 6, 2023, McCarthy announced his resignation from Congress, effective December 31, 2023. He gave his farewell speech on December 14, 2023, and was honored on the House floor by members of both parties.
Notable Events and Milestones
McCarthy’s 15-ballot victory for the speakership in January 2023 was the longest multi-ballot speaker election since 1859. In February 2023, he released more than 40,000 hours of security video from the January 6 Capitol attack to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, drawing bipartisan criticism. In April 2023, he met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in a meeting that drew condemnation from the Chinese Communist Party and triggered Chinese military exercises near Taiwan. His October 3, 2023 removal marked the first time in U.S. history the House had removed its sitting speaker.
Kevin McCarthy Career Wins
Kevin Owen McCarthy’s political career spans more than two decades, highlighted by a steady rise through House Republican leadership ranks. He served as House Republican chief deputy whip (2009–2011), majority whip (2011–2014), majority leader (2014–2019), minority leader (2019–2023), and finally the 55th Speaker of the House (January–October 2023).
Leadership and Political Achievements
McCarthy won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 to represent California’s 22nd district and was subsequently re-elected to represent the 23rd district from 2013 to 2023 and the 20th district in 2023. He won internal Republican conference votes for majority leader in 2014, minority leader in 2018, and speaker in early 2023. In 2015, he had briefly sought the speakership but withdrew from the race.
Other Achievements
McCarthy chaired the California Young Republicans in 1995 and the Young Republican National Federation from 1999 to 2001. He was a founding member of the GOP Young Guns Program and played a central role in recruiting Tea Party-aligned candidates during the 2010 election cycle, helping Republicans win back the House majority.
Kevin McCarthy Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Kevin Owen McCarthy is a fourth-generation resident of Kern County, California. His father, Owen McCarthy, served as an assistant city fire chief, and his mother, Roberta Darlene Palladino, was a homemaker. His maternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant. McCarthy is the first Republican in his immediate family, as his parents were members of the Democratic Party.
McCarthy married Judy Wages in 1992, and the couple has two children. The family are Baptists and members of the Southern Baptist Convention. They have been lifelong residents of Bakersfield, California.