Former speaker Kevin McCarthy will retire from Congress at end of year

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the former House speaker who was ousted from his position in October in a revolt by hard-right members, will not seek re-election to his congressional seat and will retire from Congress at the end of this month, he announced Wednesday.

“I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways,” McCarthy said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “I know my work is only getting started.”

McCarthy’s retirement will bring to an end a 17-year House career in which he rose quickly through the ranks of Republican leadership, culminating with his stint as speaker. His ouster marked the first time in history that the House voted to remove its leader, a move that threw the chamber into a period of instability.

McCarthy’s departure before the end of his term means Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom will have to call a special election to replace him.

Until the election can be held, McCarthy’s absence will further narrow a fractious Republican majority in the House at a time when the chamber faces major decisions on government spending and foreign aid.

McCarthy’s term was set to end in January 2025. He represents California’s 20th District, which covers much of the state’s Central Valley.

McCarthy’s decision comes in the wake of an announcement Tuesday by one of his closest allies, Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., that he is retiring at the end of his term. McHenry served as acting speaker during the three weeks in October after McCarthy’s ouster.

McCarthy will join the more than three dozen House members who have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024, because they are either retiring or seeking other office.

McCarthy’s downfall was precipitated by a procedure to remove him as speaker – a “motion to vacate” initiated by Rep. Matt Gaetz, a far-right Florida Republican and McCarthy’s antagonist. McCarthy’s detractors accused him of not keeping promises made during a lengthy fight to secure the speaker’s gavel in January.

It took Republicans three weeks to select McCarthy’s successor as speaker – Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., a relatively unknown lawmaker who, unlike McCarthy, had not spent time in GOP leadership before being thrown into the spotlight.

Some McCarthy loyalists on Wednesday expressed disappointment with their former leader’s retirement, with some blaming the eight Republicans who voted to oust him in October. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., warned that, if House Republicans lose the majority, it would be the fault of those eight.

“I can assure you Republican voters didn’t give us the majority to crash the ship,” Greene said, adding: “Hopefully, no one dies.”

McCarthy is the last of the trio of self-described Republican “Young Guns” in the House who vowed to retake Washington as “common sense conservatives” after the election of President Barack Obama in 2008. The two others, Reps. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., left Congress years ago, also ushered out, in part, by the party’s rising far-right wing.

Instead of leaving Congress alongside the other two, the California Republican stretched his time in Congress by transforming himself to appeal to the party’s most conservative elements, and by largely remaining loyal to their leader, former president Donald Trump.

Despite initially being critical of Trump in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, McCarthy quickly embraced Trump’s election falsehoods, struck down efforts to investigate the then-president’s actions on Jan. 6, and supported the ouster of his onetime loyal deputy, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), after she voted to impeach Trump.

In a video shared on X after the publishing of Wall Street Journal op-ed, McCarthy said he was proud of “what we have accomplished” during his 17 years in Congress.

“We won the House majority twice, we elected more Republican women, veterans and minorities to Congress than ever before,” he said. “We reduced the deficit by over $2 trillion, while protecting the full faith and credit of our nation. We kept our government operating, and our troops, all while wars broke out around the world.”

McCarthy added “it is time to pursue my passion in a new arena.” He has not outlined what his next steps will be.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a post shared on X, said he was proud of the work he and McCarthy “accomplished together in the Capitol.”

“I wish him the very best as he writes a new chapter,” McConnell said.

Under California law, Newsom must call for a special election to replace McCarthy within two weeks of when McCarthy leaves the House. That race must begin with a primary special election that should be scheduled about 10 weeks after Newsom’s announcement, and a final runoff should be scheduled about 10 weeks after that.

This means McCarthy’s seat will probably remain vacant until June – depriving the thin GOP majority of a much-needed vote in the very Republican-leaning district. Had McCarthy waited to announce his retirement until 2024, Newsom would have had the possibility of waiting until November of that year to hold a special election – which means McCarthy’s seat would have been left vacant for even longer.