Report: Dennis Hastert to retire

Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 15:18 EST

It's not exactly Karl Rove-level news, but GOP sources tell CQ.com that Dennis Hastert will announce his retirement from Congress Friday.

Hastert served as speaker of the House from 1998 until earlier this year, when he was replaced by Democrat Nancy Pelosi. Propped into power by Tom DeLay, Speaker Hastert was a reliable water carrier for the Bush administration and the Republican Party's right wing more generally.

In these parts, Hastert may be best remembered -- to the extent he's remembered at all -- for the bumbling way in which he handled the Mark Foley scandal in the weeks leading up the 2006 midterm elections. Without naming too many names, a House Ethics Committee investigation into the Foley case concluded that House Republicans and their staffs remained "willfully ignorant of the potential consequences of Rep. Foley's conduct with respect to House pages" and displayed a "disconcerting unwillingness to take responsibility for resolving issues regarding Rep. Foley's conduct."

― Tim Grieve

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