Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is resigning from Congress and will leave at the end of this year, he announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday — a highly anticipated decision that comes two months after his unprecedented ouster from the speakership.
McCarthy’s decision will narrow the House GOP’s already historically slim majority, which just last week got smaller after the expulsion of ex-Rep. George Santos of New York. How much room Republicans have to work with next year will depend on the outcome of a handful of special elections in 2024.
McCarthy, who has been in office for 17 years and spent much of it at the leadership table, touted his accomplishments in the op-ed and made clear he has no regrets about his tenure. McCarthy, who battled through 15 grueling rounds to win the speaker’s gavel in January, was removed just nine months later after infuriating his right flank for putting a stopgap spending bill on the floor with the support of Democrats.
“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,” he wrote.
“I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring,” he continued. “ I go knowing I left it all on the field—as always, with a smile on my face. And looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
House Republicans are planning to fete McCarthy at a party next week, according to a copy of the invite provided to CNN. The celebration was planned before McCarthy’s public announcement, but Republicans were anticipating that he would not seek reelection and wanted to organize a party to thank McCarthy and send him off, a source involved in the planning told CNN.
McCarthy is leaving Congress having made a few enemies within the House GOP Conference. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was quick to take a victory lap, posting “McLeavin” and promoting a previously released thirteen-minute video based on the ouster of McCarthy, which he led.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican who served alongside McCarthy for nearly two decades, wished his friend well and while he would have hoped McCarthy remained in the ranks he pointed to the “personal” nature of the decision.
Scalise repeatedly stressed that “being former Speaker is a tough job,” alluding to the tensions that remain in the GOP conference since his ouster. McCarthy had been attending meetings sporadically but some members had made it known his presence was not welcome.
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Kevin McCarthy speaks at a Capitol Hill news conference in 2019.
From Kevin McCarthy/Twitter
McCarthy and his future wife, Judy, pose for a photo at the top of the US Capitol circa 1987. McCarthy served on the staff of US Rep. Bill Thomas from 1987-2002. He started as an intern while attending California State University, Bakersfield.
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McCarthy, left, meets with California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, center, and other legislative leaders in 2003. McCarthy was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002.
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McCarthy, as minority leader of the California State Assembly, talks to reporters in Sacramento, California, in March 2004.
Steve Yeater/AP
McCarthy and California state Sen. Dick Ackerman wheel a cappuccino machine into Gov. Schwarzenegger's office in July 2004. This was after Democratic state Sen. John Burton, who in the past had delivered freshly brewed coffee to his meetings with Schwarzenegger, announced that he would withhold the services of his coffee maker because Schwarzenegger called his political opponents "girlie men."
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
McCarthy — bottom row, third from left —poses with other newly elected US House members in 2006. McCarthy succeeded his former boss, Bill Thomas, who had retired.
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Kevin McCarthy poses for a portrait on Capitol Hill in 2007.
Lauren Victoria Burke/AP
McCarthy listens to protesters on his way to the House Chamber, where he voted against a financial bailout package in September 2008.
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McCarthy, center, attends a news conference in 2010 with House Minority Leader John Boehner, left, and Republican Conference Chairman (and future vice president) Mike Pence. They were unveiling "A Pledge to America," a governing agenda devised by House Republicans for the 111th Congress. McCarthy at the time was the GOP's chief deputy whip.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
McCarthy, as House majority whip, joins other Republicans at a news conference in March 2011.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
McCarthy sits with Israeli President Shimon Peres during a meeting in Jerusalem in August 2011.
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McCarthy and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor brief reporters at the Capitol in September 2011. McCarthy would later succeed Cantor as majority leader in 2014.
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McCarthy, left, arrives for a Republican Conference meeting in 2013.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
McCarthy and his wife, Judy, enter a House Republican caucus vote in 2015.
Yuri Gripas/Reuters
From left, US Sen. Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi participate in a "first nail ceremony" kicking off the construction of an inauguration platform at the Capitol in 2016.
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
McCarthy, left, shares a laugh with US Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz as President Donald Trump signs a NASA appropriations bill in March 2017.
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times/Redux
Trump rests his hands on the shoulders of Ryan and McCarthy as Republican leaders celebrated the House's passage of the American Health Care Act in May 2017. The bill failed to make it through the Senate.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Pelosi, the new House speaker, is handed the gavel by McCarthy, the new House minority leader, at the start of the 116th Congress in January 2019.
T.J. Kirkpatrick/The New York Times/Redux
McCarthy leads a news conference at the Capitol in October 2019, after the House voted on a resolution outlining the rules for the next phase of Trump's first impeachment inquiry.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
McCarthy trails Trump after Air Force One landed in Maryland in 2020.
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McCarthy speaks during a reconvened joint session of Congress after the Capitol had been breached by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.
Paul Ratje/Reuters
McCarthy speaks to the press as Republican lawmakers toured the US-Mexico border in March 2021.
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McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell address reporters after attending an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden in May 2021. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with congressional leadership to try to find common ground on issues.
Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times/Redux
McCarthy holds his weekly news conference at the Capitol in July 2021.
Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times/Redux
McCarthy and Pelosi attend an event on Capitol Hill in July 2022.
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An audio recording of McCarthy is played in October 2022 during a hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack. "Let me be very clear to you and I have been very clear to the President. He bears responsibility for his words and actions. No if, ands or buts," McCarthy told House Republicans on January 11, 2021,
according to the audio obtained by CNN. "I asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. And he needs to acknowledge that."
Tamir Kalifa for CNN
McCarthy stands between US Rep. Mayra Flores, left, Republican congressional candidate Monica De La Cruz, center, and Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a mariachi band plays at an event in McAllen, Texas, in November 2022. In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with CNN two days before the midterm elections, McCarthy
outlined his plans for power.
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McCarthy and an aide wait for a final tally of votes as the House meets to elect a new speaker in January 2023. McCarthy lost 14 votes over four days before he eventually secured the support he needed to win the speakership.
Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times/Redux
Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Getty Images
McCarthy shakes hands with Biden before Biden's State of the Union address in February 2023.
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McCarthy, second from left, joins other congressional leaders as
they meet with Biden and Harris in the White House Oval Office in May 2023. They were meeting to talk about a deal to raise the nation's borrowing limit and avoid a historic default.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
McCarthy speaks with reporters as he leaves the House Chamber in May 2023.
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McCarthy arrives at the US Capitol in September 2023.
Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times/Redux
Republicans’ margin will depend on the special elections for the seats of Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York and GOP Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio next year and the outcome of the election in New York to replace Santos on February 13. Johnson is expected to leave in the first quarter of 2024. Higgins is slated to leave sometime in February.
House Republicans would go down to a thin two-vote margin with either the Johnson departure, or if the seat vacated by the expulsion by George Santos is filled by a Democrat. But that margin could revert back to a three-seat vote margin when Higgins leaves.
“It’s going to keep getting more narrow,” Scalise conceded on the shrinking majority.
Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, thanked McCarthy for his “contributions to our country and to growing the House Republican majority.”
“A razor-sharp political mind, Kevin personally raised hundreds of millions of dollars and recruited hundreds of diverse candidates that led us from deep in the minority to the majority,” Hudson said in a statement. “This devotion to building our party is born from a strong love of country and a heart for service that motivates Kevin at his core.”
McCarthy also released a video outlining his decision.
“But now, it is time to pursue my passion in a new arena,” McCarthy said in the video. “While I will be departing the House at the end of this year, I will never, ever give up fighting for this country that I love so much.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.