House Transportation chair won’t seek re-election

The powerful Republican chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will not seek reelection later this year.

Rep. Bill Shuster, who serves Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District east of Pittsburgh, Tuesday said he will end his congressional career after nine terms.

Rep. Bill Shuster

Had he run and been returned to office, Shuster would have lost his chairmanship because House GOP rules impose a three-term limit for chairmen.

“It was a difficult decision because of my love of this nation and the people I serve,” Shuster said in a statement. “Rather than focusing on a reelection campaign, I thought it wiser to spend my last year as chairman focusing 100 percent on working with President Trump and my Republican and Democratic colleagues in both chambers to pass a much needed infrastructure bill to rebuild America.”

The Washington Post reports Shuster faced difficult primary races in 2014 and 2016 against conservative businessman Art Halvorson, and Halvorson had threatened a third challenge this year.

“Throughout his career, Chairman Shuster has been a champion for highway safety and the trucking industry, leading the charge for increased investment in the critical highway arteries that our trucks depend on to move the nation’s goods,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear in a statement Tuesday.

Creating a plan to pay for improvements to the nation’s infrastructure is expected to be one of the Trump administration’s primary issues in 2018.