GOP leader really wants you to forget about all the Republicans fleeing the House

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy mocked the Democratic majority on Monday for having “fewer members than they started with” in 2019. But his own caucus has seen significantly more departures than the Democrats have and will soon face dozens of retirements.

Under the guise of presenting a year-in-review for the House Democratic majority, Rep. McCarthy (R-CA) noted misleadingly that they had “Issued more subpoenas than laws,” claimed they “Have fewer members than they started with,” and opined that they “Jammed though an unpopular impeachment which will cost them their House majority.”

While McCarthy is technically correct that the Democratic caucus is slightly smaller today (232) than at the beginning of the year (235), his own caucus is as well and may get smaller still in the upcoming days.

Since the start of 2019, one Democratic member died in office, Elijah Cummings of Maryland), one resigned after revenge porn was posted online (Katie Hill of California), and one switched parties (Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey).

But over the same period, one Republican also died (Walter Jones of North Carolina), two stepped down for personal reasons (Tom Marino of Pennsylvania and Sean Duffy of Wisconsin), and two announced their resignations after pleading guilty to federal crimes (Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California). Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) announced recently that he too may resign in 2020 to take a Trump administration post.

McCarthy’s bluster that impeachment is unpopular is not consistent with polling, which shows than more Americans support impeachment than oppose it.

And few House Republicans appear convinced that they will regain the majority after the 2020 elections. So far, 25 House Republicans have announced that they will not seek reelection in 2020. This is more than triple the number of House Democrats who have announced their retirements.

If McCarthy was attempting to chest-thump about Van Drew’s recent switch to the GOP, he should have said the House Democratic majority has “fewer member than they started with.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.