The ambitious career of Kevin McCarthy, ousted GOP Speaker of the House

He worked in Rep. Bill Thomas's district office from 1987 to 2002, when he first won state office. The son of a Bakersfield assistant fire chief, McCarthy briefly ran a deli counter out of his aunt and uncle's frozen yogurt shop as a young adult but has worked in state or federal politics for his entire career.

In 2006, he raised $1.15 million in campaign finances, according to OpenSecrets, slightly below the $1.36 million average raised by House members. In comparison, during the 2022 election, McCarthy raised $25.5 million — far above the $2.85 million average.

Reflecting on his one-time student, Dr. Mohsen Attaran, professor of management at California State University, Bakersfield, who taught McCarthy in his BA and MA programs, told Insider, "He's at the same time an ambitious and compassionate individual."

McCarthy's political influence began to grow quickly after winning his election as representative for California's 22nd Congressional District. He filled the seat left empty by the retirement of his former boss, Bill Thomas.

McCarthy took a special interest in the initiative, which was intended to promote young Republicans among the National Republican Congressional Committee.

McCarthy's office spent the equivalent of two salaries — or $95,000 —on pastries and lunches, with an additional $4,000 being spent on bottled water, ABC reported. The next highest spender that year, Republican House Speaker John Boehner, spent a comparative $64,000.

Critics of the Obama administration, including McCarthy, sued over the president's use of executive action related to the Affordable Care Act's employer health insurance mandate.

Becoming more of a figurehead within the GOP, then-House Majority Leader McCarthy took a lead role in challenging the Obama administration's policy goals. McCarthy urged President Obama to sign legislation approving the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline and called for a firmer response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. 

McCarthy's alliance with Trump would persist through two impeachments. McCarthy, now a GOP figurehead, also vastly out-fundraised other House Republicans in 2016— raising $7.74 million in campaign finance contributions compared to the average $1.73 million, according to OpenSecrets.

McCarthy was called "Trump's closest ally in Congress," though The Washington Post reported McCarthy had been recorded saying "I think Putin pays" Trump the year before he was elected.

McCarthy vehemently opposed Trump's impeachment related to allegations the former president threatened to withhold aid from Ukraine in order to enlist the government in discrediting his political rival, Joe Biden.

CNN reported McCarthy said "there's nothing that the president did wrong" on his phone call with Zelenskyy. Politico reported he defended military expenditures at Trump's Scottish resort, saying, "It's just like any other hotel."

Privately, McCarthy said he would call for Trump's resignation — while maintaining public support for him. Though their relationship was briefly questioned after recordings of McCarthy's criticism surfaced, Trump reaffirmed his belief in McCarthy's loyalty in 2021.

Wood echoed concerns from within McCarthy's own party that his ambition had outweighed his morals.

"He's willing to sacrifice everything for his own political gain," Liz Cheney said of McCarthy in October 2022.

McCarthy needed to win 218 votes to win the Speaker seat, though several Republicans publicly opposed him.

A feud between Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and McCarthy began brewing during McCarthy's election to the Speakership in January 2023, which faced heavy resistance from Gaetz and other GOP critics of McCarthy's.

It took 15 painstaking votes for McCarthy to secure the Speaker's seat.

The last time a speaker election went to multiple votes was in 1923 when a Speaker of the House was elected after nine ballots.

One of the concessions that McCarthy made with Gaetz and other fringe members of the GOP was to allow any sitting member to call a snap vote for a successor.

The Florida Republican criticized McCarthy's leadership, saying the speaker was "out of compliance" with the agreements that he made with the outlying conservatives earlier this year. 

Making good on a previous threat, Gaetz initiated the motion to remove McCarthy from the Speaker's seat October 3, 2023.

McCarthy has argued Gaetz's move was payback for Gaetz facing a House Committee inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct and misuse of funds. 

For the first time in American history, the House of Representatives successfully moved to vacate the Office of the Speaker following Gaetz' motion.

The 216-210 vote included every present Democratic member of the House and eight Republicans — including Gaetz. 

Editor's note: This story was first published in November 2022 and has been updated to reflect recent developments.