BIT THE DUST

Another House Republican Announces Retirement

Rep. Dave Trott of Michigan joins a spate of exits.

Rep. Dave Trott (R-MI) announced Monday that he would not seek re-election in 2018, making him the third House Republican in the last week to announce his exit from Congress. Trott’s decision follows that of Reps. Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Charlie Dent (R-PA), both of whom are considered to be leading moderate voices in Congress who announced their retirements over the past week. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is also retiring at the end of her term. The Florida moderate has opposed the Trump administration on a host of issues, most recently on protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. Reichert and Dent have also been critical of President Trump, and voted against the House’s repeal-and-replace of Obamacare.