Kevin McCarthy announces retirement after being ousted as Speaker

Rep. Kevin McCarthy announced he would retire from Congress at year's end, just two months after being removed as Speaker by a coalition of eight Republican hardliners and all Democrats. McCarthy's downfall traced directly to his January pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to revive Trump's political standing after Jan. 6, only to be betrayed by the MAGA faction he empowered. His brief speakership — the shortest in over 150 years — illustrated how Trump's grip on the GOP punished even its most servile members.