Kevin McCarthy
U.S. Representative for California, Speaker of the House
Kevin Owen McCarthy was born in January 1965 in Bakersfield, California. He is a fourth-generation resident of Kern County. At age 19, he opened his first business, a delicatessen, after winning five thousand dollars with a lottery ticket. He subsequently sold the deli to attend California State University, Bakersfield, where he earned an undergraduate degree in marketing and an M.B.A. During college, he worked as a seasonal firefighter for the Kern County Fire Department.
He served five years on the staff of a U.S. Congressman from California. McCarthy entered into politics winning his first election as a Kern Community College District trustee. He later served four years in the California State Assembly, becoming his party’s floor leader during his freshmen term. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives, assuming office in January 2007. He has held many positions in the House and was elected Speaker in January 2023.
McCarthy and his wife Judy have two children. He is a Baptist.
In the News…
In the aftermath of the negotiations over the debt ceiling, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the formation of a new bipartisan commission in the House whose job it will be to address the scope of the federal budget.
Referencing the debt ceiling and spending bill, Speaker McCarthy said, “This isn’t the end. This doesn’t solve all the problems. This is the first step. I’m going to announce a commission coming forward from the Speaker, bipartisan, on both sides of the aisle. We only got to look at 11 percent of the budget to find these cuts. We have to look at the entire budget.“
Speaker McCarthy said. “The majority driver of the budget is mandatory spending. It’s Medicare… interest on the debt. So you only have 11 percent to look at in this budget. I’ve got a commission… that will look at every single department in America so we can find the waste.”
Separately, he stated, “To govern is not easy, but I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history.“
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Representative McCarthy today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
U.S. Representative for California and Speaker of the House
2468 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
