Ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives McCarthy Leaves Congress “Great Danger”: Without New US Arms Supplies, Ukraine Will Lose the Battle

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy is resigning as 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 an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “I know my work is just beginning.” The 58-year-old went on to write that he left with a “smile on his face.”

McCarthy was voted out of the position of speaker of the parliamentary chamber in a historic vote in early October – having been elected by MPs only nine months earlier after 15 rounds of voting. Radical Republicans first obstructed his election and then drove him from office. It was the first time in American history that a Speaker of the House of Representatives had lost his job in this way. The office ranks third in the hierarchy of the United States, after the president and his vice president.

“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 likely to be solved through innovation rather than 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 country’s people. Biden also appreciates that McCarthy’s career is an American story — from small business owner to highest-ranking member of the U.S. Congress. (sda/dpa)