(RepublicanJournal.org) – Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has submitted his formal resignation from Congress. McCarthy, the first House Speaker to ever be removed from office by the House, had the third-shortest tenure in the office in US history. His downfall came when fellow Republicans turned on him over funding the government.
On December 6, McCarthy, who was brought down by fellow Republican congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) after agreeing to a funding deal to avoid a government shutdown, announced that he’d be resigning from Congress at the end of the year.
Breaking the news in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, the 58-year-old legislator said he’d decided to quit the House to “serve America in new ways” and promised he was just getting started. That may be true, but his Congressional career is now approaching its end.
On December 19, House Reading Clerk Tylease Alli read McCarthy’s resignation letter to the House, formally triggering his resignation from representing California’s 20th Congressional District. In the letter, McCarthy said it had been “the honor of a lifetime” to serve the people of his district, citing several cities by name.
McCarthy was first elected to the House in 2006, and since then, has represented California’s 22nd, 23rd, and finally 20th districts. In his freshman term, he was appointed to the Republican Steering Committee, then served as House Majority leader from 2014 to 2019, when he became leader of the House Republican Conference.
McCarthy seemed on track to have a successful congressional career, but that all went wrong when he ran for Speaker of the House in January. Faced with opposition from the GOP’s ultra-conservative wing, he finally managed to reach the vote threshold on the 15th round –- but only after agreeing to several procedural changes aimed at making it easier to unseat a speaker.
It was one of those changes that let Gaetz introduce a motion to vacate the speakership on October 3. Eight Republicans voted with the Democrats to remove McCarthy.
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