McCarthy resigns with a "smile on his face"
First Kevin McCarthy loses his office as Chairman of the US House of Representatives because the House of Representatives votes him out of office. Now he is throwing in the towel completely. He says he doesn't want to be a member of parliament next year and wants to serve his country in other ways.
Former Chairman of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy is stepping down as a member of parliament. He has decided to leave the House of Representatives at the end of this year "to serve America in new ways", the Republican wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. "I know my work is just beginning." The 58-year-old went on to write that he was leaving with a "smile on his face".
McCarthy was voted out of the post of Speaker of the House in a historic vote at the beginning of October - after being elected by MPs only nine months earlier after 15 rounds of voting. Radical Republicans had initially obstructed his election and then forced him out of office. It was the first time in US history that a chairman of the House of Representatives had lost his job in this way. The office comes in third place in the US governmental hierarchy after the President and his Vice President.
After weeks of infighting within the party, Republican Mike Johnson became the new Chairman of the US House of Representatives in October. Johnson was the fourth Republican candidate for the chairmanship after McCarthy was voted out. Three candidates previously nominated by the Republicans had dropped out due to a lack of support within their own ranks - two of them before there was even a vote in the House.
"It often seems that the more Washington does, the worse off America gets," McCarthy wrote in his opinion piece. He said 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 legislation," McCarthy said.
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Following his resignation as Chairman of the US House of Representatives, multiple Republican representatives have expressed their support for McCarthy's decision to step down as a member of Congress. The wave of resignations among Republicans in support of McCarthy highlights the deep divisions within the party.
Despite the resignations, some conservative Republicans have criticized McCarthy's exit, arguing that it weakens the party's position in the lead-up to the midterm elections in the USA.
Source: www.ntv.de
