CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., has been named the temporary speaker of the U.S. House after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, from the top job.
McHenry is serving his 10th term as the representative for North Carolina's 10th Congressional District, which extends from the suburbs of Charlotte into western North Carolina counties including Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Polk and Rutherford counties, and part of Catawba, Iredell and Buncombe counties.
He was first elected to Congress in 2004 at the age of 29. McHenry was most recently reelected in 2022 after winning nearly 75% of the votes.
McHenry chairs the House Financial Services Committee, a role that has given him a front-row seat to important negotiations including a May meeting at the White House about the debt ceiling.
In 2021, McHenry told WCNC Charlotte's Nate Morabito he believed the Small Business Administration's COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) was a "failed federal program."
"The Small Business Administration is a mess and the EIDL program is a disaster," McHenry said at the time. "I'm concerned about it as an American. I'm concerned about it as a policymaker."
A WCNC Charlotte investigation previously found the SBA invited businesses to apply for pandemic grants, better known as Targeted EIDL Advances, but then improperly denied many of their applications. It claimed some owed child support, weren't citizens, and weren't even alive.
In 2015, McHenry was selected by then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-LA, to be the chief deputy whip, according to his official biography. As a Republican leader in Congress, McHenry has been vocal on issues and credits himself for "building consensus for the conservative policy agenda for the House Republican Conference."
Before 2004, McHenry represented the 109th District in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
He was previously appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, according to his biography.
In 2010, McHenry proposed legislation that would have placed former President Ronald Reagan onto a redesigned $50 bill.
McHenry is most frequently seen in public wearing a bowtie.
Who is Patrick McHenry
Tuesday's ousting of McCarthy as speaker marks the first time in United States history a speaker has been removed from the speaker's office. McHenry spoke in support of his friend and colleague shortly before the vote against McCarthy.