Tennessee Republican Joins The Growing Ranks Of House GOP Retirements

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 10: Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., speaks during the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force news conference on the release of the 2018 legislative agenda for the 115th Congress on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. (Ph... UNITED STATES - JANUARY 10: Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., speaks during the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force news conference on the release of the 2018 legislative agenda for the 115th Congress on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) MORE LESS
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After serving six terms in Congress, Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), a veteran and a medical doctor, will retire at the end of this term, Roe’s office confirmed to TPM Friday.

“As someone who practiced medicine for over 30 years, I said I would serve five or six terms because I never intended this job to be a second career. After prayerful consideration, I have decided to retire at the end of the 116th Congress,” Roe said in a press release Friday. “The challenges we are facing now as complex as ever, and I still have a lot of fire in my belly. I look forward to finishing my term strongly for the East Tennesseans that I love representing and working with President Trump in favor of the free-market, conservative policies so many of us hold dear.”

Roe has served as the chair of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and is the co-chair of the House GOP Doctors Caucus and a co-chair of the Congressional Academic Medicine Caucus. The six-term congressman will join the swelling ranks of House Republicans who won’t seek reelection after spending a year in the minority.

Roe’s retirement makes him the 22nd House Republican to throw in the towel in recent months and the first to call it quits since President Trump was impeached last month.

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Notable Replies

  1. Another one bites the dust

  2. What’s the running count now? I forget…

  3. Sign of the times. Trump thinks his Iran tough guy act is going to save him but GOP congressmen think differently.

  4. Where is the tipping point? How many Republican ‘retirements’ will it take before the GOP decides which direction it’s going to turn to? If they go full Trumpian then they’ll keep losing members, because Trumpian policies are hurting the very people they say they are protecting.

  5. Please name one Republican who actually cares about his constituents ??? Its all about power to them…

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