[Infowarrior] - HPSCI chair Rep Mike Rogers to retire

[Richard Forno]

(This can't happen fast enough in my view.  But good news, anyway!  --rick)


Rep. Mike Rogers to retire, launch national radio show

	• By Ed O'Keefe
	• March 28 at 7:44 am

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/28/rep-mike-rogers-to-retire-launch-national-radio-show/

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, plans to retire from Congress after his current term to host a nationally radio show syndicated by Cumulus Media, he announced Friday.

Rogers, 50, made the announcement in a statement and during interviews on Michigan radio stations Friday morning.

"I have always believed in our founder's idea of a citizen legislature," he said in his statement. "I had a career before politics and always planned to have one after. The genius of our institutions is they are not dependent on the individual temporary occupants privileged to serve."

Lew Dickey, the CEO of Cumulus, said "We are thrilled to have Chairman Rogers join our team. He has been instrumental helping to shape many of the most important issues and events of our time and will play a significant role in our expanding content platform."

Cumulus own 460 radio stations nationwide and syndicates its programming to thousands more.

Rogers has served in Congress since 2001 and is a former FBI agent who had been mentioned as a possible nominee to lead the FBI or CIA. In recent years he's been a regular guest on Sunday morning political talk shows, serving as a frequent critic of President Obama but more recently as a vocal defender of the National Security Agency in the wake of reports by The Washington Post and other outlets about the scope of the agency's surveillance programs.

Rogers is a close ally of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and is the third sitting House committee chairman to announce his retirement this year. He is also the third member of the Michigan congressional delegation to announce plans to step down. Already Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) have announced their retirements.

Rogers declined overtures by Republicans last year to run for Levin's seat, saying at the time that he could be more effective as chairman of the intelligence panel.

Rogers hails from a safely Republican district and he didn't dispute suggestions Friday that his brother, Bill, might run for the seat. Rogers said in one of his radio interviews Friday that an announcement could come in the next few days.

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Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.