Rep. Ed Royce, R-California, who was frequently outspoken on housing finance issues throughout his time on the House Financial Services Committee, announced Monday that he is retiring from Congress.
In addition to serving as a senior member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, Royce also sits on the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.
Royce also currently serves as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
In a statement posted Monday to the House Foreign Affairs Committee website, Royce said that he will not seek re-election in November.
“It’s truly an honor to represent the people of California’s 39th Congressional District. Every day, it’s my mission to fight for freedom, opportunity and a limited government,” Royce said in a statement.
“In recent years, we’ve made a real difference. From Sacramento to Washington, we’ve enacted critical reforms to combat the modern day slavery of human trafficking. We’ve achieved commonsense tax and regulatory reforms to help small businesses and middle class families realize their American dream,” Royce continued.
“With the support of my wife Marie, I have decided not to seek reelection in November,” Royce said.
During his time on the House Financial Services Committee, Royce pursued several bills that addressed a number of housing finance issues, touching on everything to how much the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are paid, to how the government-sponsored enterprises evaluated credit worthiness, to how much risk the GSEs share, to the impact of loans created by the Property Assessed Clean Energy program, and more.
Royce becomes the second prominent member of the House Financial Services Committee to announce that they will not seek re-election.
In October, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, announced that he was retiring from Congress as well.
“I want to extend my deepest appreciation to the people of the 39th District for entrusting me with the responsibility to represent them. Our district is blessed to be diverse, and I’ve been successful in part because of my great staff and the relationships we’ve built with families, businesses and leaders in each of our communities,” Royce said in his statement.
“We’ve personally helped countless Southern Californians,” Royce concluded. “Orange County will always be home to Marie and me, and we look forward to being with all our friends at Lunar New Years, Korean American Days, Fourth of Julys and many other community events for years to come.”
