Kevin McCarthy to leave Congress at the end of this year

Updated: 06 DEC 23 11:43 ET

By Melanie Zanona, CNN

(CNN) — Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is resigning from Congress and will leave at the end of this year, he announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday — a highly anticipated decision that comes two months after his unprecedented ouster from the speakership.

McCarthy, who has been in office for 17 years and spent much of it at the leadership table, touted his accomplishments in the op-ed and made clear he has no regrets about his tenure. McCarthy, who battled through 15 grueling rounds to win the speaker’s gavel in January, was removed just nine months later after infuriating his right flank for putting a stopgap spending bill on the floor with the support of Democrats.

“No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing. That may seem out of fashion in Washington these days, but delivering results for the American people is still celebrated across the country,” he wrote.

“I never could have imagined the journey when I first threw my hat into the ring,” he continued. “ I go knowing I left it all on the field—as always, with a smile on my face. And looking back, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

McCarthy’s decision will narrow the House GOP’s already narrow majority, which just got smaller after the expulsion of ex-Rep. George Santos of New York.