Patrick McHenry, former interim chairman, is leaving Congress

Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, who made history as the first interim speaker of the House of Representatives after Republicans ousted their own speaker and struggled for weeks to agree on a successor, said Tuesday that he would tell Congress would leave at the end of his term.

The announcement by Mr. McHenry, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, added him to the growing ranks of lawmakers who have already announced they will leave the House and Senate, many of them citing the historic dysfunction of Capitol Hill.

“This is not a decision I make lightly,” he said in a statement. “But I believe there is a season for everything and – for me – this season has ended.”

The 48-year-old, bow-tied and bespectacled Mr. McHenry arrived in Congress in 2005 as a young, unruly bomber and has emerged as one of the more level-headed leaders at a Republican conference whose actions are more often driven by the attention-seekers. . He was appointed speaker pro tempore after Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who is McHenry’s closest ally.

Mr. McCarthy’s ouster prompted the House of Representatives’ first call for a succession plan after the September 11 crisis, which would require the speaker to secretly appoint an interim replacement should the post unexpectedly become vacant.

Mr. McHenry had chosen not to run for a leadership position in this Congress, in part because he believed that the most effective way to exercise power in the House was to not let anyone exercise power over him. But Mr. McCarthy had a way to control him again.

During McCarthy’s tenure as speaker, he scrapped the official leadership structure, whose members he distrusted, and relied heavily on McHenry as his hand-picked adviser to help handle debt ceiling negotiations with the White House and prevent a government shutdown.

His departure from a seat in a solidly Republican district was not expected to have much impact on the race for control of the House of Representatives, where his successor would almost certainly also be a Republican.

This is a development story. Check back later for updates.