McCarthy Condemns 'Lame Duck' Pelosi Over Debt Issue, Says She's on 'Farewell Tour'

His remarks come as senators voted on Thursday to approve a short-term raise to the US debt ceiling by $480 billion until early December, breaking a weeks-long impasse on Capitol Hill and averting a default that could have triggered a massive recession for the economy.

US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday, claiming that the "lame duck speaker" is on her way out, as seen by the manner she handles things.

In an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, McCarthy commented on the speaker's visit to Europe, where she attended the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit, which began Thursday in Rome.

"She's a lame duck speaker. She's on her farewell tour. Where was she last month when the Democrats were working on reconciliation? The UK," McCarthy said. "Where is she today? She’s back in Europe when she’s supposed to be concerned about the debt ceiling."

McCarthy repeated that Pelosi is "on her farewell tour," and that this is why she put "$200 million from our hard-working taxpayers for a park in her district" in the reconciliation legislation.

"...A big problem that we have is what Nancy Pelosi has done in Congress," the leader of House Republicans also said on Sunday.

McCarthy's words may turn out to become true if the Democrats lose the mid-term elections of 2022. In this case, McCarthy himself will take the seat of the speaker of the lower house of Congress.

He went on with his complaint by saying that the speaker of the House has "desecrated" the institution by making it "it almost impossible for the minority to get documents from the Biden administration," suggesting that this is in an effort to avoid being held accountable for certain situations, such as how the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan was handled.

"She now has proxy voting where there are Democrats that have not shown up for work for months, but they still get their paycheck," McCarthy stated.

The Republican added that the speaker "now fines members up to $5,000 if they just walk through the wrong door going to the chambers," in an apparent reference to the fines imposed in January on lawmakers who refused to go through metal detectors in the Capitol or comply with security measures in the aftermath of the infamous January 6 riot.

McCarthy also chastised Pelosi for appointing committee members, something he claims has never been done before in Congress.

"She denied the minority the ability to even offer an amendment, something that hasn’t [been] done in the history of Congress," he continued.

Last month, House Republicans unsuccessfully tried to stop a proposed $200 million investment in a national park in Pelosi's San Francisco district. The funds will be included in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation measure presently being considered in Congress.