Longtime defense appropriator Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said Wednesday he would not seek reelection this year, after serving 23 years in Congress and 19 years working with defense spending.
Moran is the second-most senior Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. Moran’s departure follows a change in subcommittee chairmanship late last year, when chairman Bill Young died in October and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) took over the subcommittee.
In a statement, Moran noted the appropriations process has struggled in recent years but added that he hoped spending compromises over the past month represented a return to normalcy.
“My chosen role in the U.S. Congress has been as an appropriator. I first served as staff to the Senate Appropriations Committee under Chairman Warren Magnuson in my 20s. I’ve seen the appropriations process at its height, and more recently its nadir. When the appropriations process is working, the government functions on behalf of the people, the economy is stronger, and the country overall becomes more inclusive, egalitarian and productive,” he said. “With the Murray-Ryan agreement, and the work Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Lowey, and their outstanding Appropriations’ staff exerted to reach the omnibus budget deal we will vote on this week, we’ve achieved a bipartisan agreement that deserves support. It represents a budgetary cease-fire and I hope a historic turning point in getting this necessary funding process back on track.”
Moran said in the statement that after 35 years as a public servant, he and his family looked forward to moving on to a new chapter in their lives.
His departure leaves the defense appropriations subcommittee with significantly less institutional knowledge. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) has served on the subcommittee since 2005. The other three Democratic members, Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Bill Owens (D-N.Y.), all joined in 2013. Like Moran, Owens said this week he will retire at the end of his current term. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) was named ranking member of the subcommittee last January and will continue to serve in that role.