Matt Rosendale announces retirement from Congress after flip-flop from Senate to House – Washington Examiner

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) announced he would retire from Congress at the end of his term, ending a monthlong saga about the Montana Republican’s reelection plans as he teetered between running for the House or Senate.

Rosendale announced on Friday he would not run for a third term in the House, arguing there was not enough room in Congress to break the status quo away from “those who benefit from the current structure to keep things as they are.”

“The limited few of us who are willing to try and force true reforms are subject to severe retribution,” he said in a lengthy statement. “To me, public service has truly always been about serving, not titles or positions of power. The current attacks have made it impossible for me to focus on my work to serve you.”

Since being elected, Rosendale has been known as a hard-line conservative within the GOP willing to break ranks with the majority of his party in order to make demands. As a prominent member of the Freedom Caucus, Rosendale has often sided with a handful of other conservative members to tank legislation in order to force leadership’s hands in negotiations.

Rosendale’s retirement caps a weekslong back-and-forth during which the Montana Republican has changed his mind on what his path forward would be.

Rosendale initially announced his intent to run for Senate in early February, pitting himself against Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, who had already received the support of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and other high-profile party members. However, it wasn’t until former President Donald Trump endorsed Sheehy over Rosendale that his Senate bid began to unravel, prompting him to suspend his campaign just one week later.

“It became very obvious soon after that announcement that the national support and resources necessary to win that seat were not going to be available to me,” Rosendale said.

Rosendale later launched his House reelection campaign on Feb. 28, noting he had received an “outpouring of support” to run for a third term representing Montana.

Now, just over a week later, Rosendale announced he would be stepping away from Congress altogether.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

More than 40 House incumbents have already announced they won’t seek reelection in 2024, marking one of the highest retirement rates at this point in an election cycle over the last decade. That number includes 21 Republicans and 23 Democrats, according to a list compiled by the House Press Gallery.

The number of retirements is approaching but has not reached 2018’s total of 52 members who stepped down from office. That marked the most incumbent retirements recorded since the 1992 cycle, when 65 members opted not to run for reelection.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Telegram
Tumblr