GOP/HOUSE OF REPS: “In his five years as chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Representative Lamar Smith transformed the once almost invisible position into a powerful bully pulpit…But with his run as chairman nearly done, the 69-year-old Texan announced on Thursday that he would retire rather than seek a 17th term in Congress and a spot on the backbench…
With a year left before the midterm elections, the line of senior House Republicans heading for the exits continues to grow. Democrats argue that the wave of retirements will help them retake the House.
But regardless of who controls the chamber come January 2019, it is becoming increasingly clear that the House will be a different place, with some of its biggest personalities and powerful committee and subcommittee leaders leaving it behind…
In all, 27 House Republicans have left, announced their retirements or declared that they were seeking higher office, compared with seven Democrats.
Those numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks, as filing and fund-raising deadlines for next year’s election approach. Just how high could depend on the success or failure of Republicans’ latest legislative push, an ambitious rewrite of the federal tax code that Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin has pledged to get through the chamber in a matter of weeks. Should the effort fail, current and former lawmakers said, the number of demoralized Republicans leaving the chamber could jump.”
-Nicholas Fandos, “Departures Promise to Reshape the House, Whether or Not Election Does,” The New York Times online, Nov. 5, 2017