Kevin McCarthy 'to depart the House at the end of this year' after being ousted from speakership

In a Wednesday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) announced he would not seek another term in the House of Representatives in 2024.

"I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started," McCarthy wrote.

The announcement marks a sharp turn for McCarthy in 2023, who was elected Speaker of the House in January of 2023 after Republicans won back a narrow majority in the House in the 2022 midterm elections. McCarthy only won the gavel after 15 separate ballots, with a hard-right faction of the House GOP insisting on several major concessions in exchange for their vote. One of those concessions — allowing a single member of the House to bring a "motion to vacate" to the floor rather than the previous rule of an entire conference or party bringing the motion — ended up being McCarthy's undoing.

POLL:Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

In October, McCarthy was ousted by a motion to vacate proffered by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), after eight Republicans voted with all Democrats to remove McCarthy from the position. Republicans rebelled against McCarthy after he worked with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown in September. Because the Constitution requires that the House elect a speaker before any other business can be conducted, the lower chamber of Congress was effectively paralyzed for three weeks before the House Republican Conference ultimately decided to elect Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) as speaker.

McCarthy made his feelings toward Gaetz known on multiple occasions. In an interview with CNN's Manu Raju, the former speaker said that Republicans would benefit "tremendously" if Gaetz were no longer in Congress, adding that members have to "earn the right" to be in the chamber, and that he didn't think his caucus "would ever heal if there were no consequences" for his ouster and resulting weeks-long pause in legislating. And last week, McCarthy said his GOP colleague from Florida "belongs in jail."

Kevin McCarthy was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, and rose steadily through the ranks until being elected House Majority Leader in 2014, when former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was still in office. He was redistricted from California's 23rd Congressional District to the 20th Congressional District — which encompasses most of the San Bernardino valley — in 2022.

READ MORE: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says Matt Gaetz 'belongs in jail'