GOP congressman who was open to impeachment calls it quits

Posted On Nov 10, 2019 By admin With Comments Off

former

Rep. Francis Rooney( R-Fla .), who was the first House Republican express openness to voting to charge President Donald Trump, announced his retirement on Saturday.

“I saw the relevant recommendations was you came and did your public service and left, you accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish and you left, ” Rooney said on Fox News. “And that’s what I want to be an example to do. And I’m also tired of the intense partisanship that stops us from solving the big questions that America needs solved.”

The two-term congressman approved his programs shortly afterward in an interview with POLITICO.

The news came one day after Rooney, a onetime construction companionship owner and major GOP donor, told CNN he couldn’t dismiss the possibility that the president committed an impeachable offense in his dealings with Ukrainian officials. “I don’t think you can rule anything out unless you know all the facts, ” he said.

Rooney, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also called on outgoing Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to comply with a House subpoena and cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

Rooney told reporters Friday he was still deciding whether to run for reelection, saying it would depend on “family things, business, are looking forward to do some different things.” But he strongly hinted that he was considering leaving.

“This is kind of a frustrating enterprise for me. I comes here a macrocosm of act, decisions, putting your money down, and witnessing what happens, ” said Rooney, who was a successful businessman before coming to Congress in 2017. “This is a world of a talk. It’s very difficult for me to time stand up and talk.”

Rooney, who has been sitting in on closed-door depositions connected to the House’s impeachment probe, has is an element of the few Republicans to publicly express frighten over Trump’s communications with Ukraine.

The Florida Republican said Friday he was “shocked” by Mick Mulvaney’s admission of a quid pro quo, saying it would be difficult for the White House to walk back the comments and that it “very well could be” a turning point in the Ukraine saga.

“He basically said it’s a quid pro quo, which is not a good thing, ” Rooney said. “The only thing I can assume is he implied what he had to say . … It’s not an etch-a-sketch.”

Rooney also said he was “still thinking about” whether Trump’s acts amounted to an impeachable offense.

But Rooney, a onetime representative to the Holy See, added that “every time an ambassador comes and talks, we learn a lot more.”

“It’s pain to me to see this kind of amateur diplomacy travelling roughshod over our State Department apparatus, ” Rooney said.

Rooney’s announcement has already set off jockeying for the heavily Republican southwest Florida seat. It’s a region backpack with daring state-level politicians, and affluent possible self-funders who could make a play for the seat.

Florida House Majority Leader Dane Eagle, a Republican who has represented the region in the statehouse since 2012, said he is mulling a run.

“Southwest Florida deserves consistent image in Washington, ” Eagle said. “I’m certain we will have a slew of candidates shedding their honour in the ring, and at this time my bride and I are carefully considering this opportunity.”

Term-limited state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto said her focus for now remains on a special legislative session that will kick off next week. She passed for the House seat in a 2014 special election, but lost in the GOP primary to onetime Rep. Curt Clawson.

Others who would potentially consider a proposal include territory Rep. Byron Donalds and former territory Rep. Matt Hudson.

The region is home to some of the wealthiest beings in the person, which can change the political calculus. Clawson and Rooney both financed their own races, elbowing aside nominees considered more a part of Florida’s political establishment.

Rooney, for his part, insisted this week he wasn’t concerned about invoking Trump’s wrath with his impeachment remarks. “What’s he’s going to do to me? ” he told reporters.

“I took this job to do the right thing, at all times, and if that represents I gotta is going in my other undertaking, that’s okay, very, ” Rooney computed. “There’s a lot of beings around here who are seriously concerned about being criticized by the president.”

“I want to get the facts and do the right thing, ” he said. “Because I’ll be looking at my children a lot longer than I’m looking at anybody in this building.”

Rooney has sometimes been a lone wolf in the GOP, breaking with the party on issues such as climate change. He told POLITICO he is satisfied with his accomplishments in Congress, including securing funding to restore the Everglades, and moving legislation to ban offshore drilling, which guided the House and is awaiting action in the Senate.

“I wanted to raise the profile of southwest Florida, ” said Rooney, who acquired reelection last year by 24 points.

Rooney follows other Republican reviewers of Trump who’ve announced their retirements — such as Texas Rep. Will Hurd — or left the party, in the case of Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who became an independent. So far this round, 21 GOP lawmakers have decided to retire, renounce or run for higher department.

Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine