Hastert Resigns Tonight
blog.washingtonpost.com
After months of playing coy about when he would depart, Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) bid his official farewell to the House today.
The speaker for eight years, Hastert wrote letters to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) officially resigning his congressional seat in a move that has long been anticipated but with the timing in question because of internal Illinois politics about when to hold a special election to pick a successor.
In a bit of historical coincidence, Hastert's resignation, taking effect at 11:59 pm EST tonight, comes on the same day that Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) announced his plan to resign later next month from the Senate. For four years in the late 1990s and earlier this decade, Hastert and Lott served together as the top Republicans in Congress, legislative point men for the early days of President Bush's tenure.
Hastert gave his farewell address to the House before the chamber broke for the Thanksgiving recess, but held off on specifying his departure. In his letter to Blagojevich, Hastert said he chose today because it allows the governor "sufficient time" to schedule a primary election for Feb. 5 to select Republican and Democratic nominees to compete in a special election later next spring.
Illinois Republicans have been wary of an earlier Hastert resignation and holding the special general election on Feb. 5 for fear that the presence of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on the ballot in the presidential primary would bring Democrats out in droves to the polls, potentially threatening what otherwise would be a safe Republican seat.
In his letter to Pelosi, Hastert thanked her for the "courtesies" she has shown him during his unusually long goodbye to the chamber. While most ousted speakers retire shortly after giving up the gavel, Hastert has remained a back-bench member all year.
By Paul Kane | November 26, 2007; 8:58 PM ET |
