WASHINGTON _ Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, an immigration hard-liner and climate change skeptic, announced Thursday that he will leave Congress at the end of his current term. He's the second GOP chairman this week from Texas to retire.
He chairs the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and under GOP rules would hit a six-year term limit at the end of 2018.
"I love my job. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing, but with chairmanship ending, second grandchild arriving ... " he said in a brief conversation at the House.
Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling announced Tuesday that he will retire after serving out his current term. Like Smith, he's a powerful chairman _ Hensarling leads the Financial Services Committee, which oversees the banking industry _ and would have to give up that post at the end of next year.
Smith has long been a leading GOP voice among immigration and border security hard-liners in a 31-year congressional career that included stints chairing the ethics and judiciary committees.
Over the years, he said in a letter to constituents, "I've been able to shape policy involving ethics, immigration, crime, intellectual property, space, energy, the environment, the budget and high tech.
"This seems like a good time to pass on the privilege of representing the 21st District to someone else," he wrote. "I have one new grandchild and a second arriving soon!! And I hope to find other ways to stay involved in politics. With over a year remaining in my term, there is still much to do. There is legislation to enact, dozens of hearings to hold, and hundreds of votes to cast."
Turnover in the 36-member Texas delegation in the U.S. House is unusually high.
Smith is the fourth lawmaker to give up a seat in 2018. GOP Rep. Sam Johnson of Plano, who turned 87 last month, is retiring. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, an El Paso Democrat, is giving up his seat to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz.
Smith turns 70 later this month. He was elected to the House in 1986 after serving in the state House and as a Bexar County commissioner.
As science chairman, he has pressured climate scientists and tangled frequently with Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, the panel's senior Democrat.
He called those skeptical of human-caused climate change "the new silent majority" in a 2015 speech and slammed the EPA's "extremely regulatory agenda."
During the Obama administration, he accused the EPA of hiding information from the public, and in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, he called for greater transparency about "the claimed benefits" of regulations.
In 2014, Smith joined other Republicans in rejecting a climate report from the Obama administration, calling it "a political document intended to frighten Americans into believing that any abnormal weather we experience is the direct result of human CO2 emissions. In reality, there is little science to support any connection between climate change and more frequent or extreme storms."
The filing period for the March primary opens on Nov. 11, setting off a scramble in Smith's district, which runs from San Antonio to Austin, including New Braunfels and much of the Hill Country, including Kerrville and Fredericksburg.
The district is likely to remain in GOP hands. President Donald Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton 52 percent to 42 percent. Smith won 57 percent of the vote _ the worst showing of his congressional career but still a landslide 21-point margin over his Democratic challenger.
Even as he pushed his science agenda he has remained deeply engaged on immigration policy, demanding tougher security at the border and more aggressive interior enforcement. Unlike some Republicans, he hasn't been shy about praising Trump's emphasis on enforcement.
"Chairman Smith's leadership on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee have established him as a leading policy mind in our Conference," said Rep. Steve Stivers, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "The people of Texas are losing a dedicated public servant and skilled legislator, but we are confident they will select another conservative Republican like Chairman Smith who shares their values."
