Kevin McCarthy 'optimistic' GOP will win back House majority
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blasts the Biden administration for having 'no accountability' and stresses that House Republicans in 2022 will be able to hold Democrats 'accountable and get America back on the right track.'
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., argued on Sunday that "one-party rule'" has led to "COVID spiking, closed schools and a crippled economy."
He also blasted the Biden administration for having "no accountability," stressing that House Republicans in 2022 will be able to hold the administration and Democrats "accountable and get America back on the right track."
McCarthy made the comments during an exclusive interview on "Sunday Morning Futures" as he discussed priorities for the new House session.
He also blasted "Democrats’ number one focus," which he argued is the election reform legislation H.R. 1.
H.R. 1, the largest overhaul of the U.S. election law in at least a generation, touches on many aspects of the voting process. It would require states to automatically register eligible voters, as well as offer same-day registration. It would limit states’ ability to purge registered voters from their rolls and restore former felons’ voting rights. Among dozens of other provisions, it would also require states to offer 15 days of early voting and allow no-excuse absentee balloting.
McCarthy argued that Democrats should be focused on "securing our border" and "getting small business back to work."
The chairs of the two GOP congressional reelection committees sound very confident that Republicans will win back majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in the 2022 midterms.
"We’re going to take back the Senate, absolutely," Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, vowed in an interview with Fox News two months ago.
And National Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota told Fox News about the same time, "Mark my words: Republicans will enter the 118th Congress with a majority and a record-breaking class of diverse members."
McCarthy is also "optimistic" that Republicans will win back majorities in the House of Representatives, stressing to host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that "there are many areas that we need to hold them [Democrats] accountable."
"First and foremost, if we are fortunate to be able to earn the trust of the American people and earn the majority, we will secure this border to stop the human trafficking and the drugs flowing across," he said.
"We’ll make it easier to open a small business, not harder. We’ll make America energy independent again, the gasoline price lower, to be able to manufacture here in America."
"We will pass the ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights,’" McCarthy continued, stressing that these moves are "just the start."
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In November, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced the "Parents’ Bill of Rights," in an attempt "to defend parents’ fundamental rights against efforts to shut them out of their children’s education," according to a news release form his office.
Democrats are hoping to defend their razor-thin majorities in both chambers in this year’s midterm elections, but they’re facing historical headwinds and are dealing with an unfavorable political environment accentuated by President Biden’s flagging poll numbers.
In the House, Republicans greatly exceeded expectations in 2020 and took a big bite out of the Democrats’ majority. While the GOP lost control of the White House and the Senate, Republicans flipped a dozen House seats and need a net gain of just five in the 435-member chamber in November to win back a majority they held for eight years before losing it amid a blue wave in the 2018 midterms.
Republicans have history on their side. On average, the party that wins the White House in a presidential election loses more than 25 House seats in the ensuing midterm election. And the once-in-a-decade congressional redistricting process may favor the GOP, as Republicans control more state legislatures and governors' offices than the Democrats.
House retirements are often seen as an early barometer of things to come in the midterms. And last year 23 House Democrats announced that they'd retire after the current term or seek another office in the 2022 elections, compared to only 13 House Republicans.
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"If we are able to win a majority, that’s how we’re able to govern," McCarthy told Bartiromo on Sunday, noting that "the lines have not been drawn yet."
He also pointed to all the House Democrat retirements.
When asked how many House seats he thinks can be flipped McCarthy responded that Republicans "want to earn enough that we have a governing majority," which he said "means getting in the realm of 20 and higher."
"If we are fortunate enough to win 35 Republican seats, that would be the largest Republican majority in more than a hundred years," he said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) emphasized to Fox News that "House Democrats are heading into the midterms with record-breaking fundraising numbers, earlier than ever investments in organizing, and an agenda that’s wildly popular among battleground voters."
DCCC spokesperson Chris Taylor argued that because "voters see Democratic members and candidates focused on rebooting the economy and getting folks back on the job," the DCCC's believes that "incumbent or not, we’re confident in our ability to win the House yet again."
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Brittany De Lea contributed to this report.