House Republicans react to Kevin McCarthy retiring from Congress: ‘Hopefully no one dies’

House Republicans are grappling with the announcement of Rep. Kevin McCarthy‘s (R-CA) retirement, narrowing the GOP‘s already-slim majority in the lower chamber following an expulsion and a series of departures planned for next year.

Many GOP lawmakers took to social media to express their concern, pleasure, or disappointment at McCarthy’s retirement announcement, using memes or videos to emphasize their delight or sadness at the departure of the longtime California congressman who held many roles within the Republican Party.

KEVIN MCCARTHY LEAVING CONGRESS AT END OF YEAR: ‘LEAVING THE HOUSE BUT NOT THE FIGHT’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) used McCarthy’s retirement announcement as a way to blast the House Freedom Caucus and those who worked to oust McCarthy as speaker of the House in October.

“Now in 2024, we will have a 1 seat majority in the House of Representatives,” Greene said in a post on X. “Congratulations Freedom Caucus for one and 105 Rep who expel our own for the other. I can assure you Republican voters didn’t give us the majority to crash the ship.

“Hopefully no one dies,” Greene added.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), a longtime ally of McCarthy’s, told the Washington Examiner that he is disappointed about McCarthy’s departure.

“I surely will miss him, but I think the House will miss him more,” Gimenez said.

The Florida Republican said it took McCarthy “years to develop the networks that he did,” and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will also need years to “develop his network.”

“No one could raise funds like Kevin McCarthy could, and so to replace him at this point with the short time frame that we have for the next election, that’s an impossible task for Speaker Johnson,” he continued. “If he comes even close, I’ll take my hat off to him, but yeah, it could have negative consequences to the conference, yeah, without a doubt.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who was one of eight House Republicans who voted with Democrats to oust McCarthy, is celebrating the former speaker’s impending departure by sharing a video clip of a 13-minute documentary, Gaveled Out, that he released in November. The documentary touches on him leading the charge to oust McCarthy in a historic vote.

“Today is a great day to watch #GaveledOut!” Gaetz said in a post on X.

He also wrote, “McLeavin’,” in a separate post on the platform.

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who spiced up the speakership election with various memes and humorous posts, shared a meme regarding McCarthy’s retirement on X.

“Kevin McCarthy leaving Republicans with a 2 seat majority,” the post read, featuring a photo of Kevin James smirking that has been widely popular for memes.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told the Washington Examiner he wished McCarthy well in the wake of his decision to leave Congress.

“I’d have liked him to stay, but it’s kind of hard to ask somebody to stay after, you know, they’re weighing some longer-term decisions,” Scalise said.

When asked about his concern over the slim majority, Scalise said, “Every day is a tough day.”

“Whether we had a five-seat majority or a two-seat majority, it’s still going to be complicated,” he added. “But it just means we got to be more unified, and I think it puts the focus on us staying unified.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee issued a statement on Wednesday on McCarthy’s end-of-year retirement, thanking the congressman for his contributions to the party.

“Kevin McCarthy’s contributions to our country and to growing the House Republican majority are unparalleled,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson (R-NC) said. “A razor-sharp political mind, Kevin personally raised hundreds of millions of dollars and recruited hundreds of diverse candidates that led us from deep in the minority to the majority. This devotion to building our party is born from a strong love of country and a heart for service that motivates Kevin at his core.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee also released a statement on McCarthy’s departure, without mentioning him.

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“A lot of people are starting to wonder if Matt Rosendale is a plant from the Democrats,” NRSC Communications Director Mike Berg said. “He is benefiting from millions of dollars in television ads from a Chuck Schumer-aligned super PAC and has been a great ally to Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi in their efforts to take back the House.”

McCarthy’s departure from the House at the end of the year will leave the House GOP with an even smaller majority heading into the 2024 election. Republicans are already losing ground with the expulsion of former New York Rep. George Santos and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) leaving Congress to become president of Youngstown State University. If Democrats win Santos’s seat in a special election, it will bring the GOP majority to just two seats.

Reese Gorman contributed to this report.