Sam Graves faces a growing pile of unfinished business before his quarter-century in Congress ends, including a much-delayed highway bill, contentious air safety legislation and another batch of funding for an air traffic control overhaul.
The taciturn Missouri Republican and House Transportation chair announced March 27 that he would not seek reelection this year. In an interview with POLITICO, Graves, 62, said he decided to hang it up, in part, because he had already gotten special dispensation to serve as chair of T&I this Congress and didn’t want to ask again — nor did he think it was feasible.
“With my chairmanship running out, I thought it was time to do something different and I’ve got another career left in me,” he said, acknowledging, “I don’t know what that’s going to be yet.”
In the interview, Graves reflected on his time in Congress while revealing that he aims to mark up the surface transportation bill when lawmakers return from their two-week recess the week of April 13. He hopes to get a vote on the House floor in May.
