Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee and a political force on financial issues, announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election.

 

 The 65-year-old lawmaker, who recently had been encouraged by President Donald Trump to seek a third term, made the surprise announcement hours before a showdown vote in an Alabama Senate runoff that pitted the establishment favorite against firebrand Judge Roy Moore. Corker's announcement set off intense speculation back home about a suddenly open Senate race.

 

 "After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018,'' Corker said in a statement.

 

 Corker has chaired the foreign relations panel, playing a significant role on Russia and Iran sanctions, and was considered a possible secretary of state in the Trump Cabinet before the president tapped Rex Tillerson. A member of the Banking Committee, Corker had his hand in major financial legislation.

 

 Despite expressing doubts about another bid, Corker had a $6.5 million balance in his campaign account at the end of the last reporting period, the most among GOP senators facing re-elections next year. Corker has increased his cash on hand by $1 million, according to his office.

 

 The senator had criticized Trump after he blamed both white nationalists and anti-racist protesters for the violence at an August rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Corker questioned whether Trump had shown the "stability'' and "competence'' to succeed in office.

 

 Trump responded on Twitter, "Strange statement by Bob Corker considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in '18.'' Trump added, "Tennessee not happy!''

 

 The announcement quickly set off heavy speculation in Tennessee about which Republicans could run to replace him, ranging from former NFL and University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning to term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam.

 

 Manning, Corker and President Trump went on a highly publicized golf outing earlier this year, and the quarterback also attended a Republican congressional retreat.

 

 Corker and Haslam are close family friends, and the senator helped persuade the popular governor to first run for public office when he made a successful bid for mayor of Knoxville in 2003.

 

 Earlier Tuesday, when he was pressed on whether the Republicans should hold a vote on a health care bill, Corker put off the question by saying: "I'm not much of a politician, as you know. So I'll let people who worry about politician-y things decide that.''

 

 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., praised Corker as an "integral member of our team and confidant of mine during his time in the Senate. His leadership on important issues has helped guide our conference and had a real impact at home and abroad.

 

 Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, called Corker a "model senator,'' adding, "We all regret him leaving.''

 

 Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate, but establishment candidates backed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have come under fire from the right, with critics questioning their fealty to Trump. Republican incumbents in Nevada and Arizona face primary challengers.

 

 The biggest test for the GOP establishment is in Alabama, where Sen. Luther Strange is locked in a runoff Tuesday against Moore.

 

 Corker took over as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in 2015 after Republicans took control of the Senate. The panel's top Democrat, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, gave Corker high marks for running the committee in an inclusive, bipartisan way.

 

 But Corker emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration's foreign policy. At a September 2016 hearing on Syria, Corker assailed President Barack Obama and his administration for refusing to take the necessary steps to get humanitarian aid into Syria and to deter Bashar Assad's military forces from targeting civilians. He considered Obama to be unreliable on foreign affairs, declaring that the president wasn't willing to "roll up sleeves and deal with the tough issues that we have to deal with.''

Corker also could go his own way. In 2015, as Republican criticism of the Obama administration's nuclear talks with Iran escalated, Corker was one of a handful of Republicans who declined to sign a letter circulated by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., that was addressed directly to Iran's leaders warning them that any accord Obama struck could be undone.

 

 He was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and two years later became a member of the Banking Committee. He played a key role in the negotiations that bailed out the collapsing financial industry with the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But he later disparaged the program as a slush fund and voted to shut it down and use any of the remaining money to pay down the federal debt.

 

 Corker criticized the major U.S. automakers who also sought a multi-billion dollar bailout in late 2008. He offered an alternative proposal that would have imposed stiffer requirements on the auto companies that Detroit opposed but which eventually were followed by the Obama administration's task force on the auto industry.

 

 He reached across the aisle in 2010, joining Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on provisions for the orderly liquidation of financial firms deemed "too big to fail'' that were included in Dodd-Frank, the banking law created after the 2008 economic crisis.

 

 Corker in 2015 had to file amendments to his financial disclosures in the Senate to show that he earned millions more from investments than he first reported, blamed the omissions on "technical errors'' by his former accounting firm.</s>When a United States senator, particularly one as powerful and secure as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) decides not to run for reelection next year, some obvious next questions are: Does his desire to leave have anything to do with Washington? And will others decide to exit, too, potentially changing the balance of power in Washington?

The answers aren’t entirely clear. When and whether to leave a job is an extremely personal decision. Corker said in his retirement statement that he initially ran for the Senate intent on serving just two terms.

“When I ran for the Senate in 2006, I told people that I couldn’t imagine serving for more than two terms. Understandably, as we have gained influence, that decision has become more difficult. But I have always been drawn to the citizen legislator model, and while I realize it is not for everyone, I believe with the kind of service I provide, it is the right one for me.”

(Update: In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Corker said: "I am in no way frustrated. Yes, I'd love to get something done on tax reform. I wish we had repealed ACA, but I'm able to make so much happen just on the telephone that I'm not frustrated, I'm not weary, I look at what I do as a tremendous privilege.")

But it’s worth noting the environment that Corker, who chairs the powerful Foreign Relations Committee and was once a Trump foreign policy adviser and potential vice presidential contender, is leaving.



Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) was once a Trump foreign policy adviser and a potential vice presidential pick. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

Republicans control Congress for the first time in a decade, but instead of coming together, they’ve devolved into several factions that have made it nearly impossible to deliver on their central campaign promise for the past seven years.

Heck, Corker’s retirement announcement comes on the same day that Senate leaders acknowledged they would not be voting on a last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare because they didn’t have enough votes.

A conservative website editor and Trump confidant has declared war on Republicans in Congress and is considering actively trying to oust key senators. Corker has two nominal primary challengers. His retirement also comes on the same day that a former judge who was kicked off the state Supreme Court could win a Senate race in Alabama, despite the party spending millions against him.

On top of all this, Republicans have a president who doesn’t share many of their conservative values, who often distracts from their accomplishments with controversy and who shows little to no interest on policy.

At least one controversy clearly irked Corker.

“The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,” Corker told local reporters in August after Trump appeared to equate white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville with counterprotesters.

In short, things aren’t going smoothly for Republicans right now. It’s entirely possible, even likely, that all of this factored in Corker’s decision.

Whatever his reason, his retirement isn’t good news for Republicans.

Trump won Tennessee by 26 points in November, so Corker’s seat is probably safe, especially since Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) and Gov. Bill Haslam (R) are rumored to want it. There is a Democratic candidate running there, and Washington Democrats say they’re closely monitoring the race. But trying to win an open seat is much more difficult than helping a senator get reelected.

Plus, Corker’s retirement could motivate other senators unhappy with the state of affairs to reasses their life choices. GOP strategists told The Fix that more retirements are coming, especially in the House.

Already half a dozen House Republicans have retired this year without another job lined up. Several have suggested the party’s climate is a big reason why. "It was just a realization that I could keep getting elected, but it’s not about getting elected," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) when she announced her retirement in April.

Retirements in the House could put their majority at risk. The Senate, where Republicans hold 52 of 100 seats, is less endangered. But more retirements means more work Republicans have to do to stave off insurgent primary challengers, instead of taking advantage of a very friendly 2018 playing field to pick up more seats.

“There are retirements every year and it’s a mistake to read too much into them," said GOP strategist Alex Conant. "But I do hear that more retirements are coming, and at some point it makes maintaining the majorities more challenging."

“Retirement makes it more likely that a far-right candidate wins a GOP primary and, assuming that person wins the general, it makes it more difficult for [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell (R-Ky.) to manage his majority,” said Molly Reynolds, a congressional expert at the Brookings Institution.

That’s all possible, not probable. But it’s much more possible now that a prominent establishment Republican is retiring rather than staying in a divided Congress. Republican leaders, themselves frustrated right now, are surely asking themselves: Will others follow Corker out the door? If so, it’s the last thing Republicans need right now.</s>Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee and a political force on financial issues, announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election.

The 65-year-old lawmaker, who recently had been encouraged by President Donald Trump to seek a third term, made the surprise announcement hours before a showdown vote in an Alabama Senate runoff that pitted the establishment favorite against firebrand Judge Roy Moore. Corker's announcement set off intense speculation back home about a suddenly open Senate race.

"After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018," Corker said in a statement.

Corker has chaired the foreign relations panel, playing a significant role on Russia and Iran sanctions, and was considered a possible secretary of state in the Trump Cabinet before the president tapped Rex Tillerson. A member of the Banking Committee, Corker had his hand in major financial legislation.

Despite expressing doubts about another bid, Corker had a $6.5 million balance in his campaign account at the end of the last reporting period, the most among GOP senators facing re-elections next year. Corker has increased his cash on hand by $1 million, according to his office.

The senator had criticized Trump after he blamed both white nationalists and anti-racist protesters for the violence at an August rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Corker questioned whether Trump had shown the "stability" and "competence" to succeed in office.

Trump responded on Twitter, "Strange statement by Bob Corker considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in '18." Trump added, "Tennessee not happy!"

The announcement quickly set off heavy speculation in Tennessee about which Republicans could run to replace him, ranging from former NFL and University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning to term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam.

Manning, Corker and President Trump went on a highly publicized golf outing earlier this year, and the quarterback also attended a Republican congressional retreat.

Corker and Haslam are close family friends, and the senator helped persuade the popular governor to first run for public office when he made a successful bid for mayor of Knoxville in 2003.

Earlier Tuesday, when he was pressed on whether the Republicans should hold a vote on a health care bill, Corker put off the question by saying: "I'm not much of a politician, as you know. So I'll let people who worry about politician-y things decide that."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., praised Corker as an "integral member of our team and confidant of mine during his time in the Senate. His leadership on important issues has helped guide our conference and had a real impact at home and abroad.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, called Corker a "model senator," adding, "We all regret him leaving."

Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate, but establishment candidates backed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have come under fire from the right, with critics questioning their fealty to Trump. Republican incumbents in Nevada and Arizona face primary challengers.

The biggest test for the GOP establishment is in Alabama, where Sen. Luther Strange is locked in a runoff Tuesday against Moore.

Corker took over as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in 2015 after Republicans took control of the Senate. The panel's top Democrat, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, gave Corker high marks for running the committee in an inclusive, bipartisan way.

But Corker emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration's foreign policy. At a September 2016 hearing on Syria, Corker assailed President Barack Obama and his administration for refusing to take the necessary steps to get humanitarian aid into Syria and to deter Bashar Assad's military forces from targeting civilians. He considered Obama to be unreliable on foreign affairs, declaring that the president wasn't willing to "roll up sleeves and deal with the tough issues that we have to deal with."

Corker also could go his own way. In 2015, as Republican criticism of the Obama administration's nuclear talks with Iran escalated, Corker was one of a handful of Republicans who declined to sign a letter circulated by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., that was addressed directly to Iran's leaders warning them that any accord Obama struck could be undone.

He was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and two years later became a member of the Banking Committee. He played a key role in the negotiations that bailed out the collapsing financial industry with the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But he later disparaged the program as a slush fund and voted to shut it down and use any of the remaining money to pay down the federal debt.

Corker criticized the major U.S. automakers who also sought a multi-billion dollar bailout in late 2008. He offered an alternative proposal that would have imposed stiffer requirements on the auto companies that Detroit opposed but which eventually were followed by the Obama administration's task force on the auto industry.

He reached across the aisle in 2010, joining Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on provisions for the orderly liquidation of financial firms deemed "too big to fail" that were included in Dodd-Frank, the banking law created after the 2008 economic crisis.

Corker in 2015 had to file amendments to his financial disclosures in the Senate to show that he earned millions more from investments than he first reported, blamed the omissions on "technical errors" by his former accounting firm.</s>The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has announced the reshuffling of chairmanship of some committees at the Upper Chamber.

Dr Saraki made the announcement while presiding over Tuesday’s plenary, as the National Assembly resumed from its break.

Senator Andy Uba is the new chairman of the Committee on Interior, while the Committee on Trade and Investment is headed by Senator Sabo Mohammed.

The Committee on Culture and Tourism is chaired by Senator Fatimat Rasaki, just as Senator Matthew Urhoghide heads the Committee on Public Account.

Other committee chairmen named by the Senate President are Senator Yayi Adeola (Local Content), Senator Stella Oduah (Cooperation and Integration), and Senator Bukar Mustapha (Capital Market).

Senator Saraki also announced five new committee vice chairmen, which include Senator Sani Mustapha (Trade and Investment) and Senator Demola Adeleke (Communication).

Others are Senator Jide Omoworare (Judiciary), Senator Shuaibu Lau (National Population Commission), and Senator Godswill Akpabio (Local Content).

Senator Adeleke is also a member of the Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Establishment, Public Service, Marine Transport, Defense, Ecology and Climate Change.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee and a political force on financial issues, announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election.

The 65-year-old lawmaker, who recently had been encouraged by President Donald Trump to seek a third term, made the surprise announcement hours before a showdown vote in an Alabama Senate runoff in which the establishment favorite lost to firebrand Judge Roy Moore.

“After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018,” Corker said in a statement that set off intense speculation back home about a suddenly open Senate race.

Corker has chaired the foreign relations panel, playing a significant role on Russia and Iran sanctions, and was considered a possible secretary of state in the Trump Cabinet before the president tapped Rex Tillerson. A member of the Banking Committee, Corker had his hand in major financial legislation.

Despite expressing doubts about another bid, Corker had a $6.5 million balance in his campaign account at the end of the last reporting period, the most among GOP senators facing re-elections next year. Corker has increased his cash on hand by $1 million, according to his office.

The senator had criticized Trump after he blamed both white nationalists and anti-racist protesters for the violence at an August rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Corker questioned whether Trump had shown the “stability” and “competence” to succeed in office.

Trump responded on Twitter, “Strange statement by Bob Corker considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in ’18.” Trump added, “Tennessee not happy!”

The announcement quickly set off attention in Tennessee about which Republicans could run to replace him, ranging from former NFL and University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning to term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam.

Manning, Corker and President Trump went on a highly publicized golf outing earlier this year, and the quarterback also attended a Republican congressional retreat.

Corker and Haslam are close family friends, and the senator helped persuade the popular governor to first run for public office when he made a successful bid for mayor of Knoxville in 2003.

Earlier Tuesday, when he was pressed on whether the Republicans should hold a vote on a health care bill, Corker put off the question by saying: “I’m not much of a politician, as you know. So I’ll let people who worry about politician-y things decide that.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., praised Corker as an “integral member of our team and confidant of mine during his time in the Senate. His leadership on important issues has helped guide our conference and had a real impact at home and abroad.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, called Corker a “model senator,” adding, “We all regret him leaving.”

Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate, but establishment candidates backed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have come under fire from the right, with critics questioning their fealty to Trump. Republican incumbents in Nevada and Arizona face primary challengers.

The biggest test for the GOP establishment was in Alabama, where Moore defeated Sen. Luther Strange despite Trump’s endorsement.

Corker took over as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in 2015 after Republicans took control of the Senate. The panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, gave Corker high marks for running the committee in an inclusive, bipartisan way.

But Corker emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration’s foreign policy. At a September 2016 hearing on Syria, Corker assailed President Barack Obama and his administration for refusing to take the necessary steps to get humanitarian aid into Syria and to deter Bashar Assad’s military forces from targeting civilians. He considered Obama to be unreliable on foreign affairs, declaring that the president wasn’t willing to “roll up sleeves and deal with the tough issues that we have to deal with.”

Corker also could go his own way. In 2015, as Republican criticism of the Obama administration’s nuclear talks with Iran escalated, Corker was one of a handful of Republicans who declined to sign a letter circulated by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., that was addressed directly to Iran’s leaders warning them that any accord Obama struck could be undone.

He was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and two years later became a member of the Banking Committee. He played a key role in the negotiations that bailed out the collapsing financial industry with the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But he later disparaged the program as a slush fund and voted to shut it down and use any of the remaining money to pay down the federal debt.

Corker criticized the major U.S. automakers who also sought a multi-billion dollar bailout in late 2008. He offered an alternative proposal that would have imposed stiffer requirements on the auto companies that Detroit opposed but which eventually were followed by the Obama administration’s task force on the auto industry.

He reached across the aisle in 2010, joining Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on provisions for the orderly liquidation of financial firms deemed “too big to fail” that were included in Dodd-Frank, the banking law created after the 2008 economic crisis.

Corker in 2015 had to file amendments to his financial disclosures in the Senate to show that he earned millions more from investments than he first reported, blamed the omissions on “technical errors” by his former accounting firm.

Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, faced a potential primary challenge in 2018. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Corker to retire after 2018 The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman faced a possible primary challenge.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker will retire from the Senate after two terms, scrambling next year's election map and causing a seismic change in the Senate's entrenched committee structure.

The Tennessee Republican's announcement on Tuesday shocked the Senate. Though he began mulling retirement earlier this month, most Republicans were convinced he would run again.

Story Continued Below

Corker spoke with Donald Trump on Tuesday, and the president encouraged him to run again and said that Corker had his support. But Corker had already made up his mind, he said in an interview.

“I just haven’t been able to bring myself to cross the line and say I was going to run. When I ran back in 2006 I told people I just couldn’t imagine serving more than two terms," Corker said by telephone. “The thought of a third term just didn't feel like why I came here."

Corker, 65, became the first senator to announce his retirement this cycle, even as octogenarians Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) mull reelection. But Corker has grown frustrated with the Senate's gridlock, and he struggled to motivate himself for another campaign.

He wavered on his decision several times, asking his staff to drafta retirement statement three different times, he said. He then found a quiet balcony in the back of the Senate to contemplate his decision one more time. Afterward, he ducked into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office and began sharing the news with other colleagues.

“I felt in my gut it was the right thing to do some time ago. Your head wants to gut it out and you’ve got people counting on you," he said. Referring to his fellow Tennessee GOP senator, Lamar Alexander, Corker added: “Lamar has known for some time I was very seriously considering leaving, as has Mitch — as has Trump."

Corker likely would have faced a tough primary challenge next year from the right, likely backed by Steve Bannon. The former White House strategist met on Monday night in Alabama with Mark Green, who was mulling jumping into the race to challenge Corker.

But Corker said Trump has repeatedly urged him to run again.

"When we knew we had the support of the president, that didn't really matter," Corker said of Bannon.

Still, his decision set off a wave of hand-wringing from his colleagues, who were dismayed that a senator who seemed so focused on making the institution function better is calling it quits.

"I'm deeply disappointed," said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). "His commitment to doing the right thing is unparalleled. Bob Corker is a guy who wakes up every day and wants to do the right thing for the people of Tennessee and the country."

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The loss of Corker, with his signature Tennessee twang and punchy jokes, will leave a void in the Senate. Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) is now in line for the Foreign Relations Committee chairmanship, though Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the panel's third-leading member, could conceivably be in consideration as well. Risch is probably the happiest person about the news other than Corker's family. Corker added, though, that it will be up to committee members to decide the next chairman.

Corker has won praise from Democrats and Republicans for his leadership in the chamber and his retirement sparked a flurry of bipartisan praise.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who worked with Corker on housing reform, said Corker's retirement is a "wake-up call" that the chamber needs more pragmatists. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Corker's "thoughtfulness and dedication to the job make him a model senator. We all regret him leaving."

"Tell me it's not true!" exclaimed Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Ben Cardin of Maryland when given the news.

Corker's open seat will give Democrats some hope of an upset win, which could potentially be a majority-maker in the narrowly divided Senate. James Mackler, a young lawyer and Army veteran, is already in the contest. Democrats also have mentioned 73-year-old Phil Bredesen, a popular former governor, but he’s shown no interest in running.

Democrats have been looking for a third seat to compete for, in addition to challenging Republican incumbents in Nevada and Arizona. They'll be rooting for a very conservative GOP nominee in Tennessee to give them a chance — someone like former state legislator Joe Carr, who earned 40 percent of the vote in a primary challenge to Alexander in 2014 and could run again.

Andy Ogles, a former Tennessee state director of the Koch network-backed group Americans for Prosperity, had already entered the race as a challenger to Corker. The two most obvious potential GOP candidates are Rep. Marsha Blackburn and former Rep. Steven Fincher.

Rep. David Kustoff, a former U.S. attorney who took over Fincher’s seat in Western Tennessee after 2016, could also consider a bid. And Green, an arch-conservative state legislator, could enter the contest. Other names floated for the seat include former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and William Hagerty, co-founder of a major private-equity firm and GOP donor was tapped to serve as U.S. ambassador to Japan in July.

Corker has made his mark in the Senate as a dealmaker, though he describes himself as conservative and chafes at the "moderate" label. He's been a fiscal hardliner, often voting against legislation that continues spending as usual and holding out until last week against any tax reform package that increases the deficit.

He has endorsed raising the federal gas tax to pay for new roads in order to avoid deficit spending, a rare position among Republicans. And Corker has criticized lawmakers who try to put off painful fiscal decisions, saying it's irresponsible.

"He's been a great fiscal conservative. And by that, I mean a truly fiscal conservative. Not window dressing, he really cares about it," Risch said.

Corker helped clinch a deal on border security in an ultimately doomed 2013 immigration bill and designed a bill to allow Congress to vote on President Barack Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran. He also spoke more frequently with Obama administration officials than many other Republicans.

As Trump rose last year in the GOP primaries, Corker quickly entered his orbit. The senator counseled Trump during the campaign and was on Trump's list for vice president and, later, secretary of state.

But Corker drew ire from Trump after criticizing the president's performance in the wake of the Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacist protests in August.

“The president has not yet, has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful," Corker said then. "And we need for him to be successful. Our nation needs to be successful."

He said later that his relationship with the White House had been repaired.

Kevin Robillard and Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.</s>Sen. Bob Corker will not seek re-election for 2018

Former Chattanooga Mayor and current Senator Bob Corker said Tuesday he will not seek re-election next year.</s>(WASHINGTON) — Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee says he will not seek re-election.

In a surprise announcement, the two-term lawmaker says that after discussions with his family, "I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018."

Corker is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has tangled with President Donald Trump, both publicly and via Twitter. But Trump recently encouraged the senator to seek another term.

Corker criticized the president after he blamed both white nationalists and anti-racist protesters for the violence at an August rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Corker questioned whether Trump had shown the "stability" and "competence" to succeed in office. Trump responded by assailing the senator via Twitter.</s>The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., announced Tuesday that he will leave the Senate when his term expires, and will not seek re-election.

“After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018,” Corker said in a statement Tuesday.</s>WASHINGTON — Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election next year, a move that is likely to set off a scramble that will pit mainstream Republicans against those from President Trump’s populist wing of the party.

Corker, 65, an establishment Republican who joined the Senate in 2007, would likely have drawn a primary challenge from the right — and hinted as much in his statement announcing his retirement, which said he had always been drawn to the idea of a “citizen legislator”.

“I also believe the most important public service I have to offer our country could well occur over the next 15 months,” Corker said, “and I want to be able to do that as thoughtfully and independently as I did the first 10 years and nine months of my Senate career.”

Corker’s decision not to run again creates the first open Senate seat of the 2018 election cycle. Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with the nonpartisan Cook Political report, predicted Republicans “will have a free-for-all in terms of the nomination.”

One likely candidate is Joe Carr, a Tea Party favorite who unsuccessfully challenged Tennessee’s other Republican senator, Lamar Alexander, last year. Others are Representative Marsha Blackburn, a staunch Trump ally, and possibly retired football great Peyton Manning, a star quarterback at the University of Tennessee.
United States Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn), the senate's Foreign Relations Chairman, announces he will not seek reelection in 2018. He is the first senator to announce his retirement this term.