Another runs away...

Hensarling won’t seek reelection in 2018

The Texas Republican has spent years fighting with mixed success to roll back regulations and phase out federal programs.

By ZACHARY WARMBRODT

Rep. Jeb Hensarling announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection in 2018, marking the end of a political career defined by the Texas Republican's long-running struggle to pare back government intervention in the economy.

Hensarling, first elected to Congress in 2002, is in his last term as chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, where he has spent years fighting with mixed success to roll back regulations and phase out federal programs.

In a statement, Hensarling said the time seemed right for his departure given the upcoming end of his chairmanship. He plans to serve out the rest of his term.

"Although service in Congress remains the greatest privilege of my life, I never intended to make it a lifetime commitment, and I have already stayed far longer than I had originally planned," he said.

There was speculation after Donald Trump's election last year that Hensarling would leave Congress, when his name was floated for Treasury secretary. He is close with Vice President Mike Pence, and several of his key aides and allies have joined the Trump administration. Hensarling did not move up the ranks of House leadership when openings arose in the last several years.

But he stayed in Congress, and in June he scored his highest-profile victory as chairman when the House passed a bill he sponsored that would enact a sweeping rollback of financial regulations. Yet, like a number of signature proposals that Hensarling has pushed over the years, it is unlikely to become law in its current form because the Senate would be unable to pass it.

"Some ideas may take years or Congresses to gel," he said in June.

Many progressives found those ideas distasteful. For years, advocates for tougher banking regulation have objected to Hensarling's crusade to scale back financial rules, including the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Public Citizen financial policy advocate Bart Naylor said Hensarling "promoted a libertarian fantasy where consumer protection isn’t part of his vocabulary."

His almost unwavering devotion to limited government has often put him at odds even with other members of the GOP, including his party's own leadership.

In recent months, Hensarling has been clashing with fellow Republicans over his plans to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program, which he has struggled to put his conservative stamp on since early in his chairmanship.

He's turning now to what might be the most insurmountable policy challenge under his purview: rejiggering the nation's housing finance system, dominated by the government-backed mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"He always focused on what he thought was the right thing to do whether others found it politically correct or not," former Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) said.

People close to Hensarling said they were not surprised by his announcement.

"When we started working together in 2001, he expected to be a three- to five-term member, max," former Hensarling chief of staff Dee Buchanan said. "He's stayed quite a bit longer, and he never imagined finishing a six-year term as an exclusive committee chairman within that time horizon.

"His daughter, Claire, was born 10 days before his first primary victory, so I think he's looking forward to being a dad and husband without a 2,600-mile commute for the first time in 16 years."

Hensarling's departure is not likely to jeopardize GOP control of his House seat. His 5th District in Texas has leaned heavily Republican — Trump carried it with 62 percent of the vote in 2016, while Mitt Romney got 65 percent in 2012. And Democrats did not even field a candidate against Hensarling in either of the past two elections. The window to file for the March primary election opens Nov. 11.

Hensarling's announcement will rekindle speculation about who will take his committee's gavel next.

The lawmaker long seen as a top contender is Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who serves as the committee's vice chairman and the House GOP's chief deputy whip. McHenry could pursue a higher-ranking House leadership position instead if the opportunity presented itself.

Other names that have been in the mix include Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Pete King (R-N.Y.). Sources following the race also said Reps. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) were worth watching.

McHenry remains interested in chairing the committee after Hensarling, according to a source familiar with the lawmaker's thinking. A spokeswoman for Luetkemeyer said he will "continue talking with and seeking advice from House Republican Leadership and his colleagues as he is seriously considering running for the chairmanship."

"I think the job is McHenry’s to take and view Luetkemeyer as the next likeliest for the gavel if the GOP retains the majority," Compass Point analyst Isaac Boltansky said.

Neugebauer, who served as a senior Financial Services Committee member and key Hensarling ally before his retirement early this year, said he expected his old colleague to "go out swinging."

Indeed, Hensarling said that over the next year "much work remains" at the Financial Services Committee in the areas of housing finance reform, regulatory relief, cybersecurity and capital formation.

"There are 14 months left in my congressional term to continue the fight for individual liberty, free enterprise and limited constitutional government — the causes for which I remain passionate," Hensarling said.