Rep. Francis Rooney, First Republican to Consider Impeaching Trump, Not Running for Re-Election
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Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL), who became the first House Republican to say he would consider voting to impeach President Trump, announced Saturday that he is retiring from Congress at the end of his term. Rooney made the announcement on Fox News, where he said he decided to not run for reelection. Rooney’s spokesman also confirmed the decision to the Washington Post. Rooney told reporters on Friday that he “didn’t take this job to keep it... I took this job to do the right thing at all times.” He continued by saying he wasn’t concerned about Trump’s wrath over his decision to potentially impeach him. “What’s he going to do to me? I mean, he can say bad things, but it’s just what it is,” Rooney said. “There’s a lot of people around who are seriously concerned about being criticized by the president. Seriously. I just want to call them as I see it. I want to get the facts and do the right thing because I’ll be looking at my children a lot longer than I’m looking to anybody in this building.”