Rep. Bill Shuster, House transportation chair, to retire
House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pennsylvania, will not run for re-election, he told the Washington Examiner Tuesday, citing his desire to pass an infrastructure bill this year without having to worry about campaigning to keep his seat. "I thought it was the best decision for me to focus 100 percent on my final year as the chairman of the Transportation Committee, working with the president and other Democrats and Republicans to pass an infrastructure bill, which is much needed to rebuild America," Shuster told the Examiner.
He also said that he thought he could better work with both parties if he doesn't have a primary and general election occupying his attention. According to the Examiner, Shuster did not apprise House Speaker Paul Ryan or the president of his decision until Tuesday afternoon, after he had informed his family, chief of staff and the Examiner.
President Trump will be meeting with GOP leaders this week and over the weekend about the agenda for 2018, and the president has made it clear that he'd like to sign a massive infrastructure bill on the heels of the tax cut he signed into law in December.
Shuster, who is 57, has held the 9th Congressional District seat since 2001, running after his father, Bud Shuster, retired. The elder Shuster had won the seat in 1972. He has been the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for five years, but he's expected to step down as chair under rules limiting committee chairs to three terms. The seat is considered by the Cook Political Report to be heavily Republican, and his district strongly supported Mr. Trump in 2016.
Other Republican House committee chairs have also announced their retirement, including Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, of Texas.