Sen. Jim Inhofe to announce retirement: reports

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is expected to announce that he will be retiring at the end of the year with four years left in his term, multiple news outlets reported on Thursday.

Two Oklahoma Republicans told The New York Times, the first news outlet to report the news, that Inhofe will be announcing his retirement on Monday. 

The Senate seat will likely remain Republican and not affect the partisan balance of the currently evenly divided Senate, The Times noted.

Inhofe’s retirement would come after more than 30 years of service in Congress.

Inhofe was elected to the Senate in 1994 and has served in the upper chamber since then, with his current term set to expire in 2027. He previously served in the House between 1987 and 1994 and was the mayor of Tulsa, Okla., prior to that.

Inhofe currently chairs the Armed Services committee. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) is the next top-ranking Republican on the committee and could succeed Inhofe as chair following his retirement if the GOP retakes the upper chamber in the November midterms, Politico reported.

If Wicker becomes the chair of the Armed Services Committee, that could make Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) the next Republican in line to chair the Senate Commerce Committee, Politico noted.

The Hill has reached out to Inhofe’s office for comment.