Deposed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is calling it quits on his 15-year career in Congress.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed posted on Wednesday, McCarthy announced that he would resign from office at the end of the year.
The move represents a punctuation mark on one of the more stunning political downfalls in recent history. It also ensures McCarthy's reliably Republican seat will be vacant until a special election is held to replace him, cutting into the House GOP's already razor thin majority.
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But the California Republican emphasized his intent to remain involved in politics. The title of his essay declared he was leaving Congress, "but not the fight."
"I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office," McCarthy wrote. "The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders."
Since eight Republican lawmakers engineered his removal as House Speaker in October, McCarthy's future in the House of Representatives has been in doubt.
After spending nine months as Speaker, and over a decade in House Republican leadership, McCarthy was not exactly well positioned to adjust to life as a rank and file lawmaker. His apparent inability to contain his anger at the colleagues who ousted him—best exemplified by his apparent shove of Rep. Tim Burchett last month—left many observers confident he was not long for Capitol Hill.
According to The Washington Post, McCarthy even cursed out former President Donald Trump in a phone call following his removal from the speakership, angry Trump had not done enough to help him. One of McCarthy's most enduring legacies, of course, was his rehabilitation of Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A powerful Washington player with deep connections in the world of political donors as well as corporate lobbying and influence, McCarthy is poised to make good on his promises to continue shaping the GOP. But he's also primed to earn a major payday as a power lobbyist himself.
Always projecting the persona of a happy warrior, McCarthy's op-ed sought to frame his exit from Congress as anything but humiliating.
"I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring," he wrote. "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."
