Why is Jason Chaffetz suddenly retiring from Congress? One word: Ambition.

[DonViejo]

By Amber Phillips April 19 at 12:36 PM

One of the most high-profile House Republicans is rather abruptly stepping out of politics. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced Wednesday that he won't be running for reelection in 2018 in his safely Republican district in suburban Salt Lake City.

-snip-

Chairmen of House committees don't just leave for no reason. So why is Chaffetz doing so?

The most likely answer, theorize Republican strategists watching this play out, is that Chaffetz is just bored with his job. His job as chairman of the oversight panel is to investigate the government, and it probably would have been a lot more fun for this tea party-leaning Republican to investigate Hillary Clinton's government than President Trump's.

After Trump was inaugurated, Chaffetz rather provocatively suggested that he planned to remain a national figure because of Clinton, not Trump. That hasn't really materialized now that Congress is investigating Trump's potential ties to Russia.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/19/why-is-jason-chaffetz-suddenly-retiring-from-congress-one-word-ambition/?utm_term=.4e2dcbf023d8

[R B Garr]

1. Russia

[MFM008]

2. Russia

Russia..................Russia........................

[Dawson Leery]

3. Most of the GOP is tainted by Russia.

This evil party must die.

[JTFrog]

4. He knows he can't get re-elected and has already been handsomely rewarded for his bogus

witch hunts.

And he is up to his eyeballs in the KGOP traitorous crimes.

He has been completely exposed so he will go into hiding pretending to continue investigating Clinton. I hear there is a lot of money in his future of privately funded witch hunts.

[hack89]

6. His is one of the safest republican districts in America

re-election was a shoo in.

I think he wants to be governor.

[TacoD]

9. I think you're probably right

But my dad, who just recently moved out of Chaffetz's district, thinks that Kathryn Allen had a good shot at beating him.

[VigilantG]

10. Kathryn Allen sounds like a great candidate

She is right on point with her message. Good luck to her! I don't live in Utah, so make sure we help get her some more attention.

Here is link to her campaign message:

https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/181376/the-us-congress-needs-a-caring-physician

[unblock]

5. i'm thinking the one word is greed.

i've got other choice words for him, too, but they don't explain this particular action of his.

[Fast Walker 52]

7. I imagine there are a lot of good reasons why the job is not so attractive anymore

and that he's going to face a tough election in 2018

[former9thward]

13. He would have been re-elected easy.

It is as safe a Republican district as you can get. He wants to run for governor in 2020.

[MrScorpio]

8. He's looking to get paid

One way or the other, he's going into lobbying.

[Wellstone ruled]

11. Little Jason would most likely survive reelection.

His Seat is 67% Mormon and the running joke in Utah is,these folks only vote for those with a R after their names.

Remember,Chaffetz survived a Legal bit last summer dealing with use of Campaign Funds for personal use. And Chaffetz was the recipient of a mega check from the Insurance Lobby a couple of weeks ago. There is more shoes to fall with this Hypocrite .

[former9thward]

12. He intends to run for Utah governor in 2020.

Much easier to do when you are out of office.