Rep. McCarthy announces he will depart Congress at end of 2023

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced Wednesday he will resign from Congress at the end of the year. McCarthy, who served as Speaker of the House from January to October, has served in Congress since 2007 and has been a strong credit union supporter dating back to before his time in Congress.

“Rep. McCarthy is one of those legislators that has understood the power of the credit union difference even before he was an elected official and supported policies to help credit unions throughout his distinguished career,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “His work with credit unions was instrumental in keeping expanded Internal Revenue Service reporting requirements out of legislation and has consistently pushed to reduce credit unions’ regulatory burden. Credit unions will miss him as a champion in Congress, and we wish him and his family the best going forward.”

"Speaker McCarthy has been a longtime friend of credit unions, dating back to his time in the state legislature,” said Diana Dykstra, president/CEO of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues. “We thank him for his leadership to our country and for championing issues important to credit unions.”

Then-Speaker McCarthy hosted Eric Bruen, CEO of Desert Valleys FCU, at a town hall event focused on expansion of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reporting requirements in 2021. 

“Congressman McCarthy — or ‘Kevin,’ as I know him — has been a tireless advocate for credit unions and for his constituents. During his more than 16-plus years in Congress, he has continually advocated for ‘the little guy,’ which the credit union model was built on,” Bruen said. “The congressman has opposed greater regulation on credit unions and has sought solutions to ensure credit unions can serve their members. The loss of his leadership will have widespread impacts. However, thanks to the incredible efforts of the Leagues’ advocacy team, I am confident the next representative for the 20th Congressional District will continue to be committed to the credit union mission of people helping people.”

Then-House Majority Whip McCarthy said he would have never made it to his leadership positions “if I didn’t belong to a credit union.”

He called credit unions the best of America’s “exceptional nature” at a previous Governmental Affairs Conference, and “a symbol of free enterprise, risk, and upward mobility.”

McCarthy shared his long history with credit unions throughout his legislative career, which includes receiving a credit union loan after high school to attend junior college, refinancing his debt through the credit union, investing those savings to purchase investments, and later selling those investments to pay for the remainder of college.