WASHINGTON — Kevin McCarthy could lead a new house soon, The Post has learned.
The ousted former speaker of the House of Representatives is widely seen as a top contender to be former President Donald Trump’s first chief of staff if he retakes the White House following the Nov. 5 election, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.
No final decision has been made and there is no sign that McCarthy is campaigning for the coveted role — though one person said the Californian has shown openness to being part of a second Trump administration in some capacity.
Trump, 78, has vowed to rapidly enact tax cuts on everything from tips and overtime to Social Security benefits and car loan interest — while shaking up the federal bureaucracy and sharply pivoting US foreign policy — possibly giving McCarthy, 59, an edge due to his significant experience in Washington.
Trump campaign co-manager Susie Wiles and former White House domestic policy adviser Brooke Rollins also are considered top contenders for the chief of staff job — with Wiles currently viewed as the front-runner due to her closeness with the Republican nominee and her highly praised management of his 2024 presidential bid.
“[McCarthy] knows DC better than Susie,” one source handicapped the sweepstakes to The Post, “but she knows Trump better than him.”
“I think Susie is most likely,” this person added, “and Brooke least likely, but all three are being considered.”
Another GOP source — who agreed that Wiles is most likely to be chief of staff at least for part of Trump’s first year in office, should he become the 47th president — said McCarthy is so widely believed to be interested in the chief of staff gig that insiders speculate on stories he may be involved with that could be shaping the ex-president’s thinking.
A third source, however, told The Post that McCarthy expressed disinterest in being White House chief of staff as recently as this week, saying: “Kevin legit doesn’t want it.”
Politico first reported Tuesday that McCarthy was in the three-way knife fight with Wiles and Rollins.
McCarthy served as America’s third-highest-ranking elected official for fewer than 11 months before being toppled in a revolt led by eight Republican foes last Oct. 3. He was a member of the House for nearly two decades and previously was minority leader of the California Assembly.
Since resigning his House seat this past December, McCarthy has stumped heavily for Trump in media interviews, saying the former president will win his re-election campaign.
Rollins, 52, has led the America First Policy Institute since Trump left office in 2021 and has overseen the drafting of policies that might be implemented if he returns to power — putting her in close contact with Republican donors and other important figures in the GOP apparatus.
It’s common for Trump staffing decisions to include media trial balloons and leaks from rival camps seeking to influence the outcome.
Trump burned through four White House chiefs of staff during his four-year term of office — starting with former Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, whom he fired after a chaotic initial six months characterized by West Wing in-fighting.
Priebus’s replacement, former Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, lasted 17 months and was credited with imposing greater in-house order — while privately boasting that he would resist or slow-walk presidential orders that he deemed ill-advised.
Former Reps. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) served as Trump’s last two chiefs of staff and took a light-touch approach toward attempting to manage the president. Their tenures were defined largely by Trump’s first impeachment during Mulvaney’s tenure and then the COVID-19 pandemic under Meadows.
A GOP strategist said McCarthy would be an “effective” pick for chief of staff, calling him “one of the top messengers for the Republican Party” as well as a “prolific fundraiser” both inside and outside of office.
Republican operative Dennis Lennox agreed, saying McCarthy “clearly” is angling for a “big job in a Trump restoration.”
“Through repeated appearances on Fox News,” Lennox added, “he’s been paying homage to Trump and speaking to Trump and Trump alone.”
“President Trump announced a Trump Vance transition leadership group to initiate the process of preparing for what comes after the election,” campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“But formal discussions of who will serve in a second Trump Administration is premature,” Cheung added. “President Trump will oversee a smooth transition and choose the best people for his Cabinet to undo all the damage dangerously liberal Kamala Harris has done to our country,”
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