The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., has announced that he will not seek re-election in November, his office confirms to NBC News. Rogers made the announcement on WJR Radio Friday morning.
Rogers, a former FBI agent and regular fixture on network Sunday news shows, has been the chairman of the powerful panel since 2011. He is in his seventh term.
Rogers is leaving Congress to host a national talk radio show focusing on conservative and national security issues.
“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,” Lew Dickey, CEO of Cumulus, which will syndicate Rogers’ new show, said in a statement.
Rogers has been a staunch supporter of the NSA’s intelligence gathering in the wake of revelations last year by leaker Edward Snowden. The Michigan Republican called Snowden a “traitor” and argued that the program to collect phone metadata was “legal and had the proper level of oversight.”
But in response to concerns about the programs, Rogers unveiled legislation this week with Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., that would effectively end the government’s collection of that data, instead requiring the government to request it from phone companies on a case-by-case basis.
Here's Rogers' full statement:
It has been an honor to serve the people of Michigan's Eighth Congressional District over the last 14 years. We have accomplished so much together, and I am most proud of our work to turn the House Intelligence Committee into a true legislative and oversight body.But I have always believed in our founder's idea of a citizen legislature. 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. That is why I have decided not to seek re- election to Congress in 2014.As I close this chapter in my life, I am excited to begin a new one that allows me to continue serving as a voice for American exceptionalism and support a strong national security policy agenda.
