The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will need to replace at least three Republican members after 2020 as multiple members of the minority party recently announced forthcoming retirements.
Two-term Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.) told The Detroit News on July 24 that he would not seek reelection next year, criticizing political gridlock on Capitol Hill, and later that day made the announcement official on the House floor. He currently serves on HASC’s subcommittees for tactical air and land forces and military personnel, and received $34,500 from defense contractors for campaign races since 2013. General Dynamics [GD] is Mitchell’s fifth largest campaign contributor, providing $18,000 – including $17,000 in PAC funds – over his career.
Five days later, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) confirmed he would step down in 2020 after hinting he would retire from Congress since 2012. He serves on the HASC Readiness and Strategic Forces subcommittees.
Bishop, Utah’s longest serving representative, is retiring as his term expires as a leader of the House Natural Resources Committee – he became chairman in 2014 and now serves as ranking member. House members can’t serve in a committee leadership position for more than six years. The defense industry has provided $322,800 to Bishop’s election races since 2001, with Lockheed Martin [LMT], Northrop Grumman [NOC] and Honeywell International [HON] all included in his top 10 contributors.
Meanwhile, Politico first reported July 30 that Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) would announce he won’t seek reelection in 2020. He confirmed it July 31 in a news conference in Midland, Texas, where local reports said he cited the three-term limit on his leadership position on the House Agriculture Committee as a key reason for his retirement. He became committee chairman in 2015, is currently is the ranking member since January, and would have to step down from his leadership position in 2020.
A member of the HASC Seapower and Projection Forces, Conaway served for two years as an Army specialist from 1970 to 1972, and was an accountant before he joined the House in 2005. He also served on the House’s Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Defense companies have contributed over $370,000 to Conaway’s election campaigns since his first race in 2004. Lockheed Martin is one of the top 20 companies to donate to his campaigns, with nearly $54,000 contributed over his career.
Other Republican House members who recently announced their impending retirements include Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee’s military construction and veterans affairs subcommittee and whose district contains the Army’s Fort Rucker and Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, the headquarters of Air University.
Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas), a Navy veteran and PC-3 Orion pilot who retired in 2009 from the Navy Reserves at the rank of lieutenant commander, will also retire in 2020, he announced July 25.
Each of the districts represented by these members are expected to be safely Republican in the 2020 elections.