McCarthy Reaffirms Decision in Farewell Speech: ‘I’d Do it All Again’

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Thursday he would sacrifice his job for making the “right decision” all over again in his farewell address on the House floor in a largely empty chamber.

The outgoing congressman’s tenure doesn’t officially end until Dec. 31, but the House adjourned Thursday for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

McCarthy announced last week that he would leave Congress before his term expired in 2024. The end of his 17-year run comes after getting ousted by a cadre of House conservatives in early October. McCarthy said he would change nothing.

“One thing I think we must quite understand, and if there’s advice I can give: Do not be fearful if you believe your philosophy brings people more freedom. Do not be fearful that you could lose your job over it,” McCarthy said. “I knew the day we decided to make sure to choose to pay our troops while war was breaking out, instead of shutting down, was the right decision. I also knew a few would make a motion.”

McCarthy presided over a bipartisan stopgap bill to keep the government open in late September and was a hit with a motion to vacate days later, which passed with Democrats voting en bloc with eight Republicans.

“Somehow they disagreed with that decision. Do it anyways,” he continued. “I would do it all again.”

Regardless, McCarthy said he “loved every single day” of being in Congress.

As for what he’ll do next, McCarthy said he’s eyeing a role in artificial intelligence, possibly with friend Elon Musk or some other tech mogul.

“I view AI as a positive,” McCarthy told Axios in an interview Thursday. “AI is where California is going to come back. The knowledge and capability of AI is streaming from California.”

He also plans to pen a memoir and hit the speaking circuit, he told Axios.

A party thrown for McCarthy at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington Wednesday night was attended by new House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who gave McCarthy credit for the majority Republicans enjoy in the lower chamber, CNN reported.

“I look at our party today, it doesn’t look like it did five years ago,” McCarthy said during his farewell. “We are winning in places you haven’t seen before. When I look to the future, I think it’s much brighter.”