Republican Kevin McCarthy, who won the position of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and lost it in nine tumultuous months this year, announced today in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that he will leave Congress. McCarthy (58) wrote, "I have decided to leave the House of Representatives at the end of this year to serve America in new ways." McCarthy's departure may dash the Republican Party's hopes of retaining the majority next year. The former party leader and a powerful force in campaign fundraising had helped Republicans dominate the House in 2022. His decision came after weeks of contemplation during which McCarthy reflected on the consequences of his choice.
McCarthy first entered Congress in 2007 and rose through the ranks of party leadership in the House in the years that followed before beginning a short but stormy term leading the Republicans in Congress. His tenure as Speaker was marked by strained relationships with hardline Republicans, who voted for his ousting on October 3 after he supported a bipartisan spending bill that averted a government shutdown. He was succeeded by Mike Johnson, a relatively new member of the leadership, after weeks of intense Republican infighting during which three veterans' efforts were unsuccessful.
McCarthy clashed with conservatives when he publicly stated that former President Donald Trump bore responsibility for the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, although he later expressed loyalty to the former president. McCarthy was the first House Speaker in U.S. history to be ousted from his position. However, he will become the third Republican House Speaker to leave Congress, following John Boehner and Paul Ryan, after a fierce conflict with the far-right faction of the Republican Party.
