Chaffetz On No 2018 Run: ‘I Just Turned 50, I’m Sleeping On A Cot In My Office’

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 24: Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, conducts the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting to organize for the 115th Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ ... UNITED STATES - JANUARY 24: Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, conducts the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting to organize for the 115th Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) on Wednesday said that he won’t seek another term in 2018 because he “hopes to find the right balance” and is sick of sleeping in his office.

“I really, really like the work in Congress, I really do, but I love my family more. People may try to make it more than that, but it’s really that simple,” Chaffetz said on MSNBC. “I just turned 50. I’m sleeping on a cot in my office.”

Chaffetz announced on Wednesday that he “will not be a candidate for any office in 2018.”

“I have made a personal decision to return to the private sector,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

“Have you spoken to Speaker Ryan about it?” Greta Van Susteren asked, referring to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI).

“I did. I called him last night and he said, ‘boy, I didn’t see that coming.’ And then he said, ‘please don’t do that yet,'” Chaffetz said. “And I said, well, I didn’t call to ask permission. I just called to inform you.”

Chaffetz said that he is hoping to “find the right balance” in his life.

“I’m just saying I’m not going to be a candidate for the Senate seat that’s up in 2018 nor am I going to run for the House again, but I very well may come back into politics at some point,” he said. “I’m not going to close the door on that.”

In an interview with the Deseret News in January 2016, Chaffetz hinted at possible future plans, saying that he “would take a serious, serious look at running for governor.”

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