Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy announced on Twitter that he will not be seeking reelection to the House of Representatives. He represents the 4th congressional district of South Carolina and was first elected to Congress in the Tea Party wave of 2010.
Gowdy is perhaps best known for chairing the House Select Committee on Benghazi from 2014 to 2016, which was investigating Hillary Clinton. He is a conservative who could also be aggressive in pursuing investigations that implicated members of his own party, such as the Trump-Russia affair.
Gowdy announced his departure from Congress in a message on Twitter. He will be returning the practice of law, where he has extensive experience. From 1994 to 2000 for example, Gowdy served as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. He explained in his post that he enjoyed the practice of law more than politics.
“Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system. As I look back on my career, it is the jobs that both seek and reward fairness that are most rewarding,” Gowdy wrote.
“The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us there is a time and a season for all things. There is a time to start and a time to end. There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system,” Gowdy added.
There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system. Full statement here → pic.twitter.com/7I8AApqvs1
— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) January 31, 2018
Gowdy is the current chairman of the House Oversight Committee. He is the thirty-sixth Republican member of the House who has announced they are leaving the House and the ninth committee chairman to do so.