The longest-serving congressman in history, Democratic Rep. John D. Dingell, is calling it quits, adding to the slate of senior retirements that have hit the House this year.
Mr. Dingell is serving his 30th term, but plans to retire at the end of this session, and will make the announcement at a luncheon in Detroit Monday. He said he’s grown increasingly frustrated with how Congress operates.
“I find serving in the House to be obnoxious,” the 87-year-old told the Detroit News. “It’s become very hard because of the acrimony and bitterness, both in Congress and in the streets.”
Mr. Dingell began serving in 1955, winning the seat left open by his father’s death, marking more than 80 years that the two men have served in Congress.
A number of senior lawmakers from both parties have announced retirements this year, and while not all of them have blamed an increasingly partisan and gridlocked House, Mr. Dingell said it was part of his decision.
His departure comes even as there was an opening as the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which Mr. Dingell used to chair. He was ousted by Democrats in 2009 in favor of Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat and ally of the party’s House leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi. But Mr. Waxman announced earlier this year he, too, was retiring.
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