House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas announced his retirement today, after 14 terms representing Bakersfield, California, in the Congress. Thomas is leaving one of the most powerful positions in Congress to spend time with his family, which has given rise to speculation that he may be at the center of a scandal that is about to break.
Known for being dictatorial and foul tempereed, his signature moment was an altercation with Democratic Rep. Pete Stark in July 2003:
[Chairman Thomas] was in classic form when he presented Democrats a last-minute substitute bill they had not seen. When Democrats walked out to an adjoining room to plot strategy, Thomas ordered them out of that room. When they refused to leave, Thomas, in high pique, summoned the [Capitol Police to have them evicted].
Stark was likewise in full character when, as the lone Democrat remaining in the full committee to stall for time, he made a snide comment about Thomas’s intellect. When another Republican took issue, Stark dared him to fight and then called him a “fruitcake” and a “wimp,” repeating those terms frequently even as he apologized later for using them.
Bakersfield is about as Red State as it gets in Calfornia, and Kevin McCarthy, Republican leader in the California Assembly, has already announced that he will run for the seat.
