HASC Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon to Retire

This story has been updated. 

Rep. Buck McKeon will retire from Congress and the chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee at the end of this term, the California Republican announced on Thursday. 

“I’m leaving this job in a year, but I will not leave the fight,” McKeon said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.

McKeon’s retirement has long been expected among the defense community and by election watchers.

The military has few friends like McKeon in Congress, who has presided over a House Armed Services Committee that is a shadow of its once feared and powerful self, largely thanks to modern committee rules and the difficulty even national security issues have had in breaking the logjams of partisan politics.

McKeon, along with fellow national security leaders in the Senate and Pentagon, proved unable to stop party leaders from allowing the Budget Control Act’s mandatory spending cuts, known as the sequester, from hitting the military, despite repeated and dire warnings of the effects such cuts would have on military “readiness” to fight wars and defend the nation.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking Democrat on the committee, said McKeon “set a tone on this committee that the rest of Congress should seek to emulate.”

“As political tension continued to rise in Congress, Buck stayed committed to bipartisanship. We formed a strong working relationship that allowed us to pass the National Defense Authorization Act year after year. Given all the tense national security issues we have faced over the years, it would have been easy to devolve into partisan fights. Buck never let that happen – he never let our disagreements get in the way of providing for our troops. Buck understood the importance of continuing to make progress. While we disagreed, and disagreed on many things, we disagreed in a respectful way that allowed this committee to continue to move forward and achieve its important goals,” he said.

“Additionally, early on Buck saw the threat posed to our national security by sequestration. He made sure that everyone – both Republicans and Democrats alike – understood that sequestration was a policy that could not stand. It is fitting that, during the week of his retirement, we pass an appropriations bill that is free of sequestration,” Smith said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called McKeon “a true patriot.”

"As Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck has fought hard to provide our troops serving around the world, and their families, the resources and support they need to accomplish their mission.  He has been a strong advocate for ensuring that our military has the capabilities to meet the complex and challenging threats it will face in the future. Since I took this position as secretary of defense a year ago, I have particularly appreciated his tireless work and leadership in providing DoD with greater budget stability and predictability,” Hagel said in a statement.

McKeon, 75, has publicly groomed Texas Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry, the vice chairman of the committee, to succeed him on the committee and publicly endorsed him during his announcement.