POLITICS
Rep. Kevin McCarthy To Resign From Congress At The End Of The Month
speakermccarthy/Instagram
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Wednesday he will be resigning from office at the end of the month, after becoming the first House Speaker to be ousted by a floor vote in the middle of a congressional term.
McCarthy, who was first elected to Congress in 2007 after serving in the California State Assembly, announced his resignation in a video message posted on social media and in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal.
No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing. That may seem out of fashion in Washington these days, but delivering results for the American people is still celebrated across the country, McCarthy wrote in the op-ed.
It is in this spirit that 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, he wrote.
I will continue to recruit our countrys best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders, he wrote.
McCarthy was ousted as House Speaker on Oct. 3 after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed the obscure motion to vacate the chair, forcing a full floor vote McCarthy lost 216–210.
McCarthy struggled to unite House Republicans behind a budget deal to avoid a government shutdown, as the more conservative flank led by Gaetz pushed for deep domestic spending cuts and objected to sending more aid to Ukraine. He was ultimately able to pass a clean continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government funded at existing levels through Nov. 17.
Republicans cycled through several candidates, contentious debates, and multiple floor votes before finally settling on Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana for House Speaker three weeks later.
McCarthy’s resignation narrows Republicans’ slim majority in the chamber even further after the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) this week.
TMX contributed to this article.
