Gowdy: ‘I don’t have a lot to show for the last seven years’ in Congress

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) says he doesn’t have “a lot to show for the last seven years” of his time in Congress, adding that the legislative branch is hampered by “ineffectiveness.”

“To the extent men judge themselves based on what they do for a living, I don’t have a lot to show for the last seven years,” Gowdy told Vice News Tonight on HBO in an interview.

Gowdy acknowledged the hyperpartisan nature of Congress, and that he’s not likely to run for political office again after he retires next year.

{mosads}

“We’ve convinced ourselves that we have to win, because the country will go to Hades in a handbasket if my team doesn’t win,” Gowdy said, later adding that the current state of the Republican Party is rooted simply in a desire to win.

Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor who was first elected to the House in 2010, announced in January that he will not seek reelection and that he intends to return “to the justice system.”

He told Vice News Tonight that he hasn’t enjoyed his time in Congress, and that he’s counting the number of trips to the airport he has left before he finally leaves Washington. 

“I can tell you right now I have 19 more drives to the airport before this session is over,” he said. “Nineteen more weeks for the rest of the year that I’m going to be gone three or four days away from home, and then after that I’ll be in South Carolina.”

In his seven years in Congress, the South Carolina Republican garnered a reputation as a conservative hard-liner. 

But he has faced the ire of some conservatives recently for defending special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. 

–Updated at 11:24 a.m.