By Jen DiMascio
Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) announced last week that he will not seek another term next year, which will leave the Republican side of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) with three key vacancies.
Ranking member Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala.), second in command of the strategic forces subcommittee, are among the 13 House Republicans who have announced their retirement.
Saxton cited health reasons for stepping down but said in a statement he would “continue to bring research funding to Lockheed Martin, the largest employer in South Jersey.”
Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] facility in Moorestown, N.J., houses a naval weapons complex.
Saxton’s district also is home to what his website calls the only Army-Navy-Air Force “mega-base” in the country, made up of the Army’s Ft. Dix, McGuire Air Force Base and the Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station. The third district of New Jersey also houses a National Guard bombing range called the 177th Fighter Wing.
Hunter called his retirement along with Everett’s a “double blow” to the committee.
“Our nation is losing a leader on national security issues who combines great wisdom with an understanding of military issues that is unsurpassed in Congress,” Hunter said in a statement.
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) was surprised by the news and said Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) would be next in line in terms of seniority.
The party’s steering committee, currently led by Rep. John Boeher (R-Ohio), won’t have to decide who the next leader will be until the 111th Congress is here, according to Josh Holly, spokesman for the HASC Republicans.
Hunter won his leadership role on the committee after then-Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) withdrew a challenge to him in 2002. Weldon also sought the seat two years earlier but lost to Rep. Bob Stump (R-Ariz.), who later retired.