Representative Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection and will instead retire from office at the end of December, leaving Republicans with an even thinner majority in the lower chamber until a special election is held to find his replacement.

“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,” the recently ousted Speaker wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “It is in this spirit that 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.”

“I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders.”

In October, with the backing of Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fl.), the House voted to remove McCarthy from the Speakership. Seven other Republicans joined Gaetz’s efforts, including Representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana. They joined 208 Democrats in ousting the speaker, and seven members were absent during the roll-call vote.

Gaetz argued that supporting McCarthy’s ouster would end the “chaos” of the reining status quo, where members are forced to pass government funding bills all at once in order to avert a last-minute shutdown. “I think the fact that we have been governed in this country, since the mid-’90s, by continuing resolution and omnibus is chaos, and the way to liberate ourselves from that is a series of reforms to this body that I would hope would outlast Speaker McCarthy’s time, would outlast my time here,” Gaetz said at the time.