Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) announced this week that he would be resigning from the House of Representatives in May, according to a statement his office released Tuesday morning.
“After discussions with my family and careful reflection, I have decided to leave Congress in the coming weeks,” Dent stated. “Serving the people of the 15th Congressional district has been a tremendous responsibility and the privilege of a lifetime, and I am honored by the trust that so many of my constituents placed in me to represent them in Washington.”
BREAKING: Rep. Charlie DENT announces he’ll resign in May. pic.twitter.com/Ke25mdCY3G
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 17, 2018
Dent said in his statement that he is “especially proud” of the work he has does to “give a voice to the sensible center in our country that is often overlooked or ignored” and that he will continue to advocate for responsible governance and in the coming years.
Dent previously served as the chairman of the House Ethics Committee. Last September, he announced his retirement, but his announcement Tuesday means he will not even serve out his term.
Dent is one of only a handful of Republicans who have consistently been critical of President Trump and has become a staple on cable TV, where he has openly criticized his own party. Earlier this year, he blasted Republicans for FBI conspiracy theories, saying on MSNBC that he “[doesn’t] believe there is an Illuminati at the FBI.”
“We have been the party, traditionally, of law enforcement at the state and local level and also at the federal level. We were mortified a couple years ago when many on the far left were launching these attacks against police,” Dent said in January, amidst attacks by Trump and others on the FBI. “Now here we are, as a party, trying to brand ourselves as somehow suggesting that the men and women of the FBI are not as professional as they ought to be. We need to get behind law enforcement, show some respect here, and move away from these conspiracy theories.”
Just last week, Dent said that running as a Republican in the Trump era is a “no-win position.” He is one of a record number of Republican members of Congress retiring or resigning ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.