House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that recent successes in the House show that Speaker Paul Ryan has brought “structural change” to the lower chamber of Congress.
“Look at the highway bill we just passed for five years, look at the process – it went not only to the House and Senate, but to conference,” McCarthy said on CNN, referring to a deal reached Tuesday on a five-year funding plan.
“We have the Elementary and Secondary Education Act coming forward out of conference, the omni [spending bill], [and] bipartisan work on the refugee program,” he said during a separate appearance on MSNBC.
“Change does make a difference and Paul Ryan is doing a tremendous job,” he added, claiming Paul has brought “a generational change going forward.”
McCarthy also mentioned bipartisan plans in the House to address the “gaps and vulnerabilities” in the government’s visa-waiver program, which allows millions of foreigners to enter the country annually without first being screened at U.S. embassies and consulates. The Obama administration made its own changes to the program to ensure it’s not being used by people who pose terrorism risks.
“I see us getting our work done in a very positive manner,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy himself was the front-runner to become the next House speaker, but unexpectedly dropped out, even though he was on track to win a majority of votes within the Republican conference. Speculation swirled that McCarthy may have feared some personal scandal would have leaked out to the media if he became speaker, but he said he decided he wasn’t the best person, and said Paul’s tenure so far is proving him right.
“I decided that I was not best for the speaker position and now you’re going to find that became true,” he said.
“I called [Paul] and I said you are the person who can bring everybody together and I think we’ve seen that he has,” McCarthy told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota.
