Just my opinion but Trey Gowdy is an establishment Republican with one foot in the Deep State, but he likes to masquerade as a tea party Republican. His career has been as a prosecutor so he has a love of big government. He sees the turn with Trump and the country’s disgust with the deep state and has decided to step aside – like Ryan. A smart move on his part.
Republicans need to continue to move toward the conservative right and hold those in the deep state whether Republican or Dem accountable for their crimes. They would be well served to elect someone like Jim Jordan as their next speaker.