Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Wednesday he will resign from office by the end of this year and not run for re-election.
The announcement came in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, in which McCarthy touted his record as speaker this year before the vote that removed him from the position in a historic fashion.
“I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started,” McCarthy wrote.
McCarthy did not specify his next move but teased his plan to work to expand the GOP in new ways.
“I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office,” he wrote. “The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”
McCarthy became the first speaker of the House to be voted out of his position in American history, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Eight Republican members joined Democrats to vote him off in October, the charge led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). McCarthy held the chamber’s top position for nine months with the Republican majority.
The road to the speakership for McCarthy this year proved to be another dramatic event, as it took 15 ballot votes due to disagreements within the new GOP majority.
The California congressman entered office in 2006 and became a member of House leadership in his second term. This coined him a member of the “Young Guns” trio with former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). McCarthy will be the last of the three to leave Congress.
Fundraising remained a strength for McCarthy, who helped rally the GOP to a House majority in the 2022 and 2010 elections. He boasted of his record as House Speaker in the WSJ article, citing the passage of measures for border security, energy independence, and government accountability.
“No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing,” McCarthy wrote of his time leading the House. “That may seem out of fashion in Washington these days, but delivering results for the American people is still celebrated across the country.”
