Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to resign from Congress at year end

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday he will resign from Congress at the end of the year.

McCarthy, the California Republican who was ousted as speaker by a faction of his own party two months earlier, said he is leaving “to serve America in new ways.”

“I know my work is only getting started,” McCarthy said in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

The announcement immediately rocketed McCarthy to the top of the private sector’s target list of former members of Congress who would be powerful additions to a company payroll. McCarthy was a prolific fundraiser as Republican leader and later speaker, where he built a deep network of CEOs and major donors.

The announcement, which was expected, came the week before the House is scheduled to depart Capitol Hill for the rest of the year.

“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,” McCarthy wrote in his op-ed.

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