LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two months ago, Kevin McCarthy was booted as House speaker. Now, the Republican congressman from California says he’s resigning and will leave Congress by year’s end. His announcement caps a stunning end of his House career for the onetime deli counter owner from Bakersfield, California. McCarthy has risen through state and national politics to become second in line to the presidency as speaker, until hard-right conservatives engineered his removal in October. McCarthy made his announcement in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday and wrote that he’ll “serve America in new ways.” McCarthy had brought Republicans into the majority but found it was much more difficult to lead the GOP’s factions.
