Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) is calling it quits after a long career as one of the most influential and visible Democrats in the House of Representatives. According to multiple reports, Frank will announce his retirement in Newton, Massachusetts on Monday afternoon at 1 PM.
Frank was first elected in 1980 and worked his way up to become chairman of the powerful House Financial Services committee from 2007 to 2011, presiding over a crucial stretch that included the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and the subsequent passage of the Wall Street reform bill that bore his name, Dodd-Frank. The most prominent openly gay politician in America, Frank also heralded a sea change in gay rights that included the legalization of gay marriage in his home state of Massachusetts and the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy in 2010.
Frank’s decades in office brought with them considerable baggage, however — Republicans frequently accusing him of helping cause the subprime mortgage crisis by letting Fannie Mae on Freddie Mac run wild. Newt Gingrich, a favorite bete noir for Frank, even called for him to be jailed.
The Congressman defiantly fought back against the claims, blaming the GOP for ignoring the housing giants’ problems during a long stretch in the majority from 1995-2007, but there were signs his connections to the finance and mortgage industries took a political toll. In 2010, he faced an unexpectedly difficult re-election and ended up winning with only 54% of the vote, an unusually low margin for a longtime elected official who often ran unopposed by Republicans. The latest round of redistricting removed some Democratic strongholds from his district, raising the possibility of more tough fights down the road. The Boston Globe quoted an unnamed Frank adviser on Monday citing the reconfigured district as a major factor in his decision.
