‘Serving under Trump is embarrassing’: Fifth Republican congressman retires in just two weeks as GOP fears more exits

https://news.yahoo.com/serving-under-trump-embarrassing-fifth-104531664.html

Conrad Duncan
,The Independent•July 31, 2019

A fifth Republican congressman appears set to quit the party in the space of two weeks amid ongoing tension over Donald Trump’s presidency.

Representative Mike Conaway will not seek re-election to his Texas seat in 2020, the Politico website reported. He has not confirmed his decision or reason for retiring but he is set to make a statement to the media.

The move has prompted worries within the party that others will follow suit and step down, because of the difficulties that come with serving under Mr Trump and working with a Democratic majority in Congress.

“Serving in the era of Trump has few rewards,” Tom Davis, a former senior Republican congressman, told The Hill website. “He has made an already hostile political environment worse.

“Every day there is some indefensible tweet or comment to defend or explain. It is exhausting and often embarrassing.”

Mr Conaway, who has served in congress for 15 years, will join Republican representatives Paul Mitchell, Pete Olson, Martha Roby and Rob Bishop in announcing his retirement.

Mr Mitchell had told the House that “rhetoric overwhelms policy and politics consumes much of the oxygen” in Washington DC.

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While he did not explicitly attribute blame to the president, he was one of the first Republican congressmen to complain about Mr Trump’s recent racist remarks about the group of Democratic congresswoman known as the squad.

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All 435 voting seats in the House of Representatives will be up for election in 2020, along with 34 seats in the US Senate.