Amash: Some retiring GOP lawmakers may reenter politics once Trump is gone

Independent Michigan Rep. Justin Amash speculated Tuesday that some retiring Republican lawmakers may seek office again once President Trump leaves office.

Amash, theorizing that numerous White House officials who have defended President Trump’s call to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN’s Erin Burnett they “feel trapped in that position.” 

“I hear that from my colleagues on the House floor” he added.

{mosads}“They wish they weren’t doing this, and frankly I think a lot of the retirements that we hear about as well are just trying to ride out this president and they might think of coming back into public office later on, once this president’s gone,” Amash said.

Fourteen Republicans have announced they will not seek reelection in 2020, including Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), who resigned in late September to care for his newborn child who has complex medical needs, and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the second most senior member of the House, who has served since 1978.

Amash, the co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, said in June that former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report convinced him Trump has committed impeachable offenses, making him the only congressional Republican to endorse impeachment before he formally left the party and the caucus in July.