Donald Trump praised a young California state assemblyman four years ago as “a MAGA champion,” helping launch him into Congress. Now, that same politician has abandoned the Republican Party.
Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said Monday that he was “immediately” leaving the Republican Party to become an independent during a phone call with reporters. The 41-year-old described his switch as stemming from “frustration with partisanship itself.”
The California lawmaker, who is up for reelection this year, also refused to commit to being a reliable vote for House Speaker Mike Johnson until his term ends.
“I don’t know if he would tell you I have been so far,” Kiley said, according to Axios.
Kiley, 41, formally announced his departure from the GOP on social media Friday, blasting “partisanship” and referring to gerrymandering as a “plague on democracy.”
“As an elected representative, I’ve always seen my role as being an independent voice for our community, holding politicians in Sacramento and Washington accountable to serve my constituents. I answer to you, not party leaders,” Kiley wrote in an X post viewed almost 600,000 times as of publication.
“That’s the kind of representation I believe the newly-drawn Sixth District deserves.”
He continued: “It is no secret I’ve been frustrated, at times disgusted, by the hyper-partisanship in Congress. In the last year it’s led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, a massive increase in healthcare costs, and of course, a pointless redistricting war. The epidemic of gerrymandering has spread from Texas to California to states all across the country. Both parties are complicit.”
Kiley went on to say that political division has emerged as a “serious problem” nationwide and called for greater unity, which he said is now “more important than ever.”
The congressman has recently emerged as one of the few moderate House Republicans willing to break with Trump, 79, after the GOP hung him out to dry during partisan redistricting efforts last year.
When California’s redistricting forced Kiley to seek reelection in a bluer district, he pivoted toward the center. He has since co-authored bipartisan legislation to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies and has frequently criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson’s parroting of the Trump administration.
Before that, Kiley gained name recognition in the state assembly as a frequent foe of California Gov. Gavin Newsom—and earned Trump’s respect while doing so.
“No one has fought Gavin Newsom harder than Kevin. He doesn’t wait for the fight, like the do-nothing RINOs who have watched California get absolutely destroyed by the radical maniacs in Sacramento,” Trump said in his endorsement, according to the Sacramento Bee. He went on to refer to him as “a conservative champion in the California State Capitol.”
Kiley’s departure from the president’s party leaves an even thinner margin in the House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority of just two votes. It also comes as the GOP braces for potential losses in the upcoming midterm elections, with Trump’s approval ratings sinking to record lows.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Kiley for comment.
