Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) took a shot at congressional “lifers” shortly after announcing he will not be seeking reelection.
On Tuesday, Gallagher told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino that it was primarily a personal family decision to step away from Congress, but also believes it was never intended to be a lifelong gig and blamed Washington D.C. “dysfunction” on too many “lifers and careerists” sticking around.
“Since I ran, I always said that Congress shouldn’t be a career,” the Republican said. “I think that the fact that we have so many lifers and careerists in this institution is why it’s so dysfunctional, and the Framers, when they created the Constitution and this country, had in mind that you would embark on a season of service and then return to private life.”
Gallagher, a former Marine who serves as the chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said he wanted to return to private life while he’s “still young.” Gallagher is 39.
“My wife and I have been talking about for a while,” he said on Fox. “That’s the most important reason. We have a young family now, we would like to grow that family, and I’ll be honest, this lifestyle is not well suited to that.”
Gallagher will have served four terms in Congress. He announced on Saturday that he’s not seeking reelection.
“I think it was the best decision for my family. I’m going to miss it. I hope you guys will still be nice to me and invite me on your show,” Gallagher told Hemmer and Perino.
Watch clip above via Fox News.
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