Rep. Kevin McCarthy, whose tumultuous tenure as Speaker of the House ended with his historic ouster in October, will resign from Congress effective Dec. 31.

The California Republican's resignation letter was read on the House floor on Tuesday during a pro forma session.

"I hereby submit my resignation effective on Dec. 31, 2023, as United States Representative of the 20th District of California," Tylease Alli, the Reading Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, read Tuesday. 

"It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the great people and communities of Kern, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Tulare, Fresno and Kings County over the past 17 years, and especially my home town of Bakersfield in the Central Valley of the great state of California," McCarthy's letter reads.

McCarthy was elected House Speaker in January after a tumultuous 15 rounds of voting, but he was ousted from his position in October when a group of Republican rebels pushed for his removal after he relied on Democratic support to pass a bill to avert a government shutdown. McCarthy is the first House speaker to be removed from the role.

McCarthy announced earlier this month he would retire from Congress at the end of the year in order to "to serve America in new ways."

"I know my work is only getting started," he wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal at the time. "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."