LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two months after his historic ouster as U.S. House speaker, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that he is resigning and will leave Congress by the end of the year.
His announcement capped a stunning end to a House career for the onetime deli counter owner from Bakersfield, California, who ascended through state and national politics to become second in line to the presidency, until a cluster of hard-right conservatives engineered his removal in October.
McCarthy is the only speaker in history to be voted out of the job.
“No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing,” McCarthy wrote in The Wall Street Journal, announcing his decision. “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.”
Kevin McCarthy resigns
His resignation comes just two months after he was removed as House Speaker.
Word about McCarthy’s future had been expected, days before the filing deadline to seek reelection to the House. But his decision ricocheted across Capitol Hill, where his departure will leave the already paper-thin…
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