WASHINGTON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan announced Wednesday that he will not run for re-election in November.
During a press conference on Capitol Hill, Ryan said that he will serve out his term and retire from Congress in January, adding that he wanted to spend more time with his family.
"You realize something when you take this job," the Wisconsin Republican told reporters. "It's a big job with a lot riding on you."
Ryan, 48, said that he took the job "reluctantly" in 2015, when he took over from John Boehner, but the speaker also said he has no "regrets."
"I like to think I've done my part, my little part in history to set us on a better course," Ryan said.
He considered a massive tax bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump late last year, and increased military spending as his biggest achievements.
U.S. President Donald Trump praised Ryan as "a truly good man."
"While he will not be seeking re-election, he will leave a legacy of achievement that nobody can question," Trump said in a tweet.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she hopes Ryan will spend his final months in office working with Democrats "constructively" for all Americans.
Ryan has been in Congress since 1999 and became House speaker in 2015 after serving successively as chair of the House Budget Committee and chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
In the 2012 U.S. presidential election, he was the Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States, running alongside former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
