Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R) has officially announced his plans to step down from Congress at the end of the year. Rep. McCarthy's announcement comes after he was ousted from his position, earlier in the year.
"I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways," said McCarthy in an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal.
"I know my work is only getting started."
The former speaker had served in Congress for 17 years before stepping down. However, the political makeup of Congress has shifted since then. The controversial partisan group known as the "Freedom Caucus" has become a problem for many of those in Congress willing to negotiate and work across the aisle in beneficial bipartisan efforts.
Rep. McCarthy was ousted in an effort led by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz (R). Rep. Gaetz's motion came after the former speaker worked with President Joe Biden (D) to avoid a government shutdown. The Florida representative's actions were highly criticized. Furthermore, the office of speaker was left vacant for two weeks, leaving North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry in charge.
In a statement released by his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Pres. Biden expressed his sentiments toward the news of McCarthy's departure.
"The president wishes Speaker McCarthy well, and congratulates him on a career of service. While they have important differences about policy, the president appreciates that they were able to work across the aisle," said Jean-Pierre regarding McCarthy stepping down.
Current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R) has had an odd first few weeks as speaker. Recently, Rep. Johnson has released the Jan. 6 footage showing the violence that took place at the capitol.
Multiple Republicans have called for the release of the 44,000 hours of Jan. 6 footage for a long time. Many in the GOP believe that the release of the footage could change the narrative surrounding the violent attack that resulted in deaths and 138 injured police officers.
The protestors who enacted the riots were there to stop the certification of President Joe Biden (D) as the 46th President of the United States. Furthermore, many analysts and critics have blamed former president Donald Trump (R) for the attacks. The former president's critics claim that he provoked their actions by telling them to "fight" and not authorizing the National Guard to help prevent and stop the attacks.
