One of President Trump’s closest allies will join the ranks of House Republicans not seeking reelection: Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC).
In an interview with Politico Playbook Wednesday, Meadows said he will retire when his term is up and might even leave the House mid-term to take on some undisclosed job helping President Trump. He also claimed that his retirement has nothing to do with fears that he might not be reelected in a district that’s glaciated slightly left in recent years.
“Obviously, I’ve looked at this as a temporary job,” Meadows told Politico Playbook. “Endorsed term limits — never ran on a term-limit pledge. Every year it’s a decision whether you’re going to run again. Probably the hardest thing for me was the timing of this, because the President has accomplished so much. I’m not only an ally, but will continue to be an ally. And we’ve had discussions on how we can work more closely together in the future and I felt like filing and then potentially resigning at some point in the future would not serve my constituents in North Carolina best.”
Meadows hinted at the mid-term exit when he told Politico that he’ll stay in his seat until “it’s decided that I can best serve the President and the American people in a different capacity.” He said there are no official plans, but conversations are happening and he hinted that there could be a job on Trump’s reelection campaign or in the administration in the works.
“The hardest decision for me is that when you’re in the fight, you enjoy staying in the fight,” Meadows said. “So this is not me shrinking away from a fight. In fact, it’s just going to be continuing to fight a different capacity, whether that’s officially as part of the Trump team or unofficially in my capacity as a sitting member of Congress.”
As a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, Meadows has remained a close legislative ally to Trump, but the four-term lawmakers has also become one of the President’s closest advisers on impeachment and other key issues.
