(Bloomberg) -- Representative Mark Meadows, one of President Donald Trump's staunchest allies in the U.S. House, won't seek reelection, his office confirmed Thursday.
“Afer prayerful consideration and discussion with family, today I'm announcing that my time serving Western North Carolina in Congress will come to a close at the end of this term,” Meadows said in a statement.
Meadows, whose retirement was first reported by Politico, told the publication he may even leave Congress before his current term expires. His statement said his work with Trump's administration was “only beginning.”
“This president has accomplished incredible results for the country in just 3 years, and I'm fully committed to staying in the fight with him and his team to build on those successes and deliver on his promises for the years to come,” he said.
A co-founder of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus, Meadows was a thorn in the side of his own party's leadership before Trump came to office, including in 2015 seeking the resignation of his fellow Republican John Boehner as Speaker.
Since Trump took office in 2017, the North Carolina Republican has been one of his closest advisers in the Congress.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Fox Business Network on Thursday that he was confident Republicans would retain control of Meadows's western North Carolina district.
“His seat won't switch into Democrats' hands,” McCarthy said.
Two of the state's other House Republicans -- George Holding and Mark Walker -- have announced they won't seek reelection after redistricting drew their sets to include more Democratic voters. Meadows's district became slightly less Republican-leaning.
--With assistance from Kathleen Miller.
To contact the reporters on this story: Derek Wallbank in Singapore at dwallbank@bloomberg.net;Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chua Baizhen at bchua14@bloomberg.net, Kathleen Hunter
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