Kevin McCarthy: Blame Harry Reid For Washington Gridlock, Not Obama

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), current whip, and newly elected House Majority Leader, is blaming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for the gridlock in Washington D.C.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked if he would be willing to work with President Obama as majority leader. “I believe you can work with anybody,” McCarthy said. “The challenge has been Harry Reid. There’s more than 240 bills that have passed the House that haven’t even been brought up inside the Senate. If you want to know the problem, the frustration with Washington, (it’s) the Senate. The Senate has not moved anything, they never send something to the president’s desk, so how do you even negotiate with the president if he doesn’t have the bill on his desk?”

McCarthy was elected last week to replace Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) as House Majority Leader after Cantor lost in his primary to Tea Party favorite Dave Brat as reported by The Inquisitr. He said legislation would start moving if Republicans were able to take over the Senate in November.

“What is the hold up here?” he asked. “Harry Reid and the Senate. If that fundamentally changes in November, I think it’ll be a new day for America and a new direction,” reported The Huffington Post.

McCarthy denied a suggestion that he is less conservative than Cantor, saying, “I believe the idea of freedom and liberty. But more importantly, look at my voting background. I voted against bailing out Wall Street. I voted against, never voted for a tax increase.”

Immigration reform will be a challenge for McCarthy. As the representative of an agricultural district where farmers rely heavily on migrant labor, he has spoken in favor of a path to legal status for some immigrants according to the Los Angeles Times. On Sunday, he said there should be not talk of a reform bill “until we secure the borders, because the borders are not secure.”

McCarthy was asked about Frank Underwood, the fictional (and Democratic) House whip on the television show House of Cards. Actor Kevin Spacey followed McCarthy while preparing for the role. Unlike Underwood, McCarthy said he’s never killed a political opponent.

“But I jokingly say that if I ever did, it’d be easier to be whip” votes, he said. “And then seven members texted me to ask me if they’d be the ones I would kill.”

McCarthy defeated Idaho Rep. and Tea Party favorite Raul Labrador for Majority Leader.

[Image via bing.com]