Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted as speaker of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, has said he will not seek the office again.
Mr McCarthy became the first speaker to be removed from office after losing what was effectively a vote of confidence in the face of a rebellion by hard-right members of his party.
Eight members of his own Republican Party in the House of Representatives joined with opposition Democrats to back a motion calling for the post of speaker to be vacated.
The motion had been brought on Monday night by Republican congressman from Florida Matt Gaetz after the speaker agreed a deal with Democrats on Saturday on a temporary funding measure to keep open the US government until next month.
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Shortly after losing the vote to remove him as speaker by 216 votes to 210, Mr McCarthy told his party that he would not run again for the position.
“I don’t regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance,” Mr McCarthy said at a news conference after the meeting.
“It is my responsibility. It is my job. I do not regret negotiating; our government is designed to find compromise.”
Mr McCarthy hit out at those Republicans who voted to oust him.
“They don’t get to say they’re conservative because they’re angry and chaotic,” he said. “They are not conservatives and they do not have the right to have the title.”
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Mr McCarthy said the decision by Mr Gaetz to table the motion against him was “personal”.
“It had nothing to do about spending,” he said. “It all was about getting attention from [the media]. I mean, we’re getting email fundraisers from him.”
He said that was “not governing”.
“That’s not becoming of a member of Congress.”
Mr Gaetz had tabled his motion to try to unseat Mr McCarthy under procedures the now-former speaker had agreed to put in place last January when he was seeking the speaker’s position.
At his press conference on Tuesday Mr McCarthy urged his successor to change the rule that allows just one member of the Republican Party in the House to force a vote on removing a speaker.
The departure of Mr McCarthy as speaker leaves the House of Representatives effectively leaderless as it faces another potential government shutdown next month unless spending measures for next year are agreed.
North Carolina congressman Patrick McHenry will serve as interim speaker for the moment.
A vote on a new speaker is now unlikely to take place until at least next week.
Among those who have been suggested as a possible new speaker are the current majority leader Steve Scalise – who is at present being treated for cancer, chairman of the judiciary committee Jim Jordan, and Kevin Hern, who chairs the Republican study committee.
