Kevin McCarthy says he won't run for speaker again after unprecedented ouster

• Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday said he would not run for House speaker again.
• The House earlier voted to oust him after he worked with Democrats to pass a spending bill.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy says he will not run for speaker of the House of Representatives again after his historic ouster from the role.

"I leave the speakership with the sense of pride, accomplishment, and, yes, optimism," McCarthy told reporters Tuesday evening.

The California Republican was largely defiant as he traced the beginnings of his political career through his historic ouster earlier in the day.

McCarthy said he wouldn't change anything, including his decision to push a last-minute spending bill over the weekend to avoid a government shutdown. McCarthy needed Democrats to help push the plan over the finish line, a decision that triggered the ire of Rep. Matt Gaetz and other conservatives.

"If I lose my job over truly doing what I think is right, I'm at peace with it," McCarthy said.

In the lengthy news conference, McCarthy also sounded off on some of his detractors and lamented the state of politics.

"They don't get to say they are conservative because they are angry, and they're chaotic that's not the party I belong to," McCarthy told reporters of Gaetz.

McCarthy also declined to say whether he would resign from Congress. He repeatedly expressed an interest in still helping the GOP. Asked whether he would back primary challengers of Gaetz and others, McCarthy quipped, "I'm a free agent now."

"A lot of them I helped get elected," he said. "I probably should have supported somebody else."