Kevin McCarthy Announces Plans to Run for Speaker of the House

House majority leader and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy has officially announced his intention to run for Speaker of the House.

“We can’t ignore the differences that exist, but we can and must heal the divisions in our conference with work, time, and trust”.

The North Carolina Republican isn’t ready to endorse anyone for Speaker or any other leadership positions, telling CNN he has traded calls with McCarthy, but hasn’t spoken directly to him yet. To talk about the way forward, we reached John McCormack, senior writer for The Weekly Standard.

“I won’t be as tan”, said the 50-year-old McCarthy, who is aiming to succeed the 65-year-old Boehner as speaker, at a new conference Tuesday. “I think that can be a big problem”. “We actually ended up sharing a house together”.

McCarthy’s letter to colleagues saying he is running for the job indicated that he wants to show rebellious Republicans that he will at least listen to them. “But you look to the Senate – they haven’t moved”, he added. Boehner went through too much crap. They’d rather be out in the media.

“I really don’t know”. Many are embittered after years of Congress lurching from crisis to crisis, repeatedly getting the bare minimum done at the last possible minute. McCarthy was first elected to the House in 2006 and quickly worked his way up the chain into House leadership, first as the GOP majority whip then as the majority leader.

MCCORMACK: Well that’s a great question. “A lot of people in Washington are concerned about power and institutions”. You really can’t please anyone doing this job.

LaMalfa said inter-party struggles over the Speakership could lead to chaos, noting that infighting accomplishes nothing. “I don’t want to shut down the veterans administration”. “And let’s most importantly listen to the American people”. “That is a very important decision that could have tremendous effects on the direction of our country and to do it speedily in only seven to 14 days is not doing justice to the importance of the issue”. I mean, this is how laws are made.

Boehner, R-Ohio, acknowledged on Sunday that he plans to tie up a few loose ends before leaving his post next month, so as not to leave “a dirty barn” for his successor.

Hard fiscal issues – from increasing a debt limit that is forecast to be breached before year’s end to settling on spending priorities through September 2016 – confront a Congress that has been rocked by Republican disarray that resulted in Boehner’s retirement announcement last Friday.