Citing his massive workload, Rep. Trey Gowdy has resigned from his influential post on the House Ethics Committee.
“Accordingly, I tender my resignation from the House Ethics Committee pending your designation of a replacement. Thank you again for this opportunity and thank you to my colleagues on the Committee for their hard work and friendship,” Gowdy wrote in a letter addressed to House Speaker Paul Ryan. The letter was stamped Jan. 10, 201.
“When I became Chairperson of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform I knew I would not be able to keep all other committee assignments to include Judiciary, Intelligence and Ethics. Four committee assignments, including a Chairmanship, is a challenging workload.”
Gowdy isn’t leaving Washington. He’ll be as influential as ever, just in a different way. Voters probably won’t even notice the difference.
House Speaker Ryan has already responded to Gowdy’s letter.
“Gowdy was serving on four committees when he ran for Chair of the Oversight andGovernment Reform Committee. He requested to be relieved of his duties from the Ethics Committee should he win chairmanship given the significantly increased workload,” AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan said in a statement.
“We are grateful for his five years of service on the Ethics Committee and for agreeing to serve the remainder of the calendar year.”
Gowdy took over as chairman of the Oversight Committee last summer after the panel’s previous chair, Rep. Jason Chaffetz retired from the House. Gowdy has been a member of the House since 2011.
(Source: The Hill)