Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced that he will retire from Congress at the end of the year, ending a 17-year career representing California in the House of Representatives. He will not serve out the end of his current term in office, which will continue until January 2025.
In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal today (Wednesday), McCarthy wrote that he has “decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways.”
McCarthy stated that he intends to work on recruiting candidates to run for office under the Republican Party.
“I will continue to recruit our country’s 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 said.
McCarthy, 58, was elected Speaker of the House in January 2023, after Republicans won a small majority in the House in the 2022 midterm elections. He was ousted as Speaker nine months later, in early October 2023, after a revolt by hardline Republican Congressmen and a motion by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to remove him. No Speaker had ever been removed in such a manner before.
McCarthy is a strong supporter of the State of Israel. In May, he visited the Jewish State and declared that Israel's rebirth was "nothing less than a modern miracle."
"America is grateful for our friendship with Israel. We are a better nation because of it, and we must never shy away from defending it," he said.