“As much good as we’ve done together, there’s a time and season for everything,” he said in a video statement Tuesday.
Rep. Jodey Arrington, the chair of the House Budget Committee, announced Tuesday morning that he’s retiring, months after helping shepherd President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act through Congress.
“As much good as we’ve done together, there’s a time and season for everything,” the Texas Republican said in a video. “And this season is coming to a close. That’s why today I am announcing I will not be seeking reelection. Instead, I’ll be looking for the next challenge, I’ll be spending quality time with my family and I will be passing the torch to the next West Texan.“
The five-term lawmaker was first elected to the House in November 2017. He was picked to lead the powerful budget panel in January 2023.
Arrington highlighted his efforts to pass Trump’s domestic megabill earlier this year. House Republicans sent the legislation to the Senate — by just a single vote — after weeks of internal conflict in May. Trump signed it into law on July 4.
He’s stood by the bill even as Republicans struggle to sell it to a skeptical audience.
“This past year, I had the privilege of leading the most consequential piece of legislation in modern history, to make the America First agenda a reality,” he said. “The single largest tax cut for middle-class families and small businesses, the biggest investment in national defense and border security, the single biggest commitment to deploying and utilizing America’s energy assets, the largest spending cut in our nation’s history to make America safer and more prosperous.”
But the budget panel’s chair will likely continue to be busy as he finishes out his time in the House. Arrington in October said he still wants to pass another party-line domestic policy package before the turn of the new year — but that the shutdown complicates that goal.