Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) announced that he will be leaving Congress at the end of this term.
“It has been [an] honor to serve the great people of the Third Congressional District and State of Missouri these past several years,” Luetkemeyer said in a statement. “However, after a lot of thoughtful discussion with my family, I have decided not to file for re-election and retire at the end of my term in December.”
“There is still a lot to do,” he added. “As we tackle the many challenges we face, I hope we remember what someone once said that ‘the greatness of our country is not found in the halls of Congress but in the hearts and homes of our people.'”
— Blaine Luetkemeyer (@RepBlaine) January 4, 2024
Thirteen other Republicans have announced their retirements.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) also plans to retire from the House.
McHenry suggested that members of Congress should make more money to encourage “credible people to run for office that want to serve the public and to be effective legislators.”
“You especially need staff to be able to go toe-to-toe with the people they’re regulating or overseeing in the executive branch, which means you need to get the highest quality folks,” McHenry added. “You can’t have the executive branch and the judicial branch on a higher pay scale than Congress. That is absurd, and really stupid for Congress to disadvantage ourselves in this game of checks and balances.”
Other representatives who will not be returning to the House include Kay Granger (R-TX), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), and Drew Ferguson (D-GA).
