CNBC reports House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has dropped out of the race for House Speaker. He was thought to be the front-runner for the post, although questions had arisen in recent days about whether he could get a majority on the first ballot.
McCarthy, though solidly conservative, is seen as too willing to compromise by some of the more hard-line members of his caucus, a couple of whom had indicated they planned to run against him.
McCarthy didn't help his cause by inferring a political motive to the committee investigating the role of Secretary Clinton in murders by Islamic radicals of a U.S. ambassador and three aides in Benghazi, Libya. Democrats have used his misstatement to discredit the committee's important work.
