Kevin McCarthy wants to break new ground. The elected former chairman of the House of Representatives is leaving Congress.
Former US House of Representatives leader Kevin McCarthy is stepping down as a representative. He has decided to leave the House of Representatives at the end of this year “to serve America in a new way,” the Republican wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “I know that my work is just beginning.” The 58-year-old further wrote that he was leaving with a “smile on his face.”
McCarthy was voted out of the post of chairman of the parliamentary chamber in a historic vote at the beginning of October – after he had only been elected by MPs after 15 rounds of voting just nine months earlier. Radical Republicans first hindered his election and then drove him from office. It was the first time in US history that a chairman of the House of Representatives lost his job in this way. The office comes third in the United States’ hierarchy after the president and his vice president. It was an honor to serve the people in Congress, he wrote on the platform X (formerly Twitter).
Career began as a small entrepreneur
“It often seems that the more Washington does, the worse off America is,” McCarthy continued. He started his career as a small business owner and looks forward to helping entrepreneurs and risk-takers realize their full potential. “The challenges we face are more likely to be solved through innovation than through legislation.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said US President Joe Biden wished McCarthy well and congratulated him on his career. Despite significant political differences, both could have worked across party lines on important priorities for the people of the country. Biden also appreciates that McCarthy’s career is an American story – from a small business owner to the highest-ranking member of the US Congress.
