Not Speaker Kevin McCarthy Leading Off: • CA-23: On Thursday, Speaker-in-Waiting Kevin McCarthy pulled the plug on his bid to become Speaker-for-Real. McCarthy quickly announced that he would not be resigning from the House and would stay on as majority leader. McCarthy's Bakersfield seat is safely red and no notable Republicans have ever tried to challenge him, and that's unlikely to change even after this debacle. Of course, it's always possible that McCarthy changes his mind and exits the House a bit earlier than planned.