Rep. Dennis
Hastert of Illinois, who served as speaker of the House
longer than any other Republican in history--and was
in charge during the House page scandal last fall
involving former Rep. Mark Foley--intends to
retire next year at the end of his term, party officials
said Tuesday.
A formal
announcement was planned for Friday.
Hastert's planned
retirement is likely to set off a lively scramble
between the two political parties for a House seat that he
has held easily since first elected in 1986.
Hastert's
decision has been expected since the GOP lost control of the
House last November, costing him his powerful post. He had
been speaker, next in the line of presidential
succession behind the vice president, for eight years.
The officials who
discussed his plans did so on condition of anonymity
because there had been no public announcement.
Hastert's
decision to remain in the House after his speakership was
unusual.
His immediate
predecessor, Republican Newt Gingrich of Georgia, was
dogged by scandal when he stepped down as speaker after two
terms, then resigned from Congress a short while
later.
Before Gingrich,
Democratic representative Tom Foley of Washington was
defeated for reelection in 1994. Foley's predecessor,
Democratic representative Jim Wright of Texas,
resigned under an ethics cloud in 1989.
Hastert, 65,
declined to run for minority leader after his party's defeat
in the 2006 election, taking on a role as elder statesman
among Republicans.
He has been a
strong supporter of the war in Iraq.
As speaker during
President Bush's first six years in office, he labored
successfully to pass the Administration's tax cuts as well
as landmark Medicare legislation that provides a
prescription drug benefit.
Democrats said
Hastert's decision will make it more difficult for
Republicans to hold his seat in Illinois's 14th district,
located west of Chicago.
''Any Republican
running will have to answer for their party's failure to
be nothing more than a rubber stamp for George Bush's
endless war in Iraq and his irresponsible fiscal
policies,'' said Doug Thornell, spokesman for the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Republican
campaign officials declined to comment, but several GOP
contenders have already expressed an interest in the seat,
since Hastert's retirement has been widely assumed for
months. Bush carried the 14th district in 2004 with
55% of the vote. (David Espo, AP)
