U.S. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) announced his resignation from the House floor on Tuesday. Reed had already announced that he would be retiring from Congress last March after being accused of sexual misconduct. The New York Congressman was one of six Republicans who voted to censure President Trump after the January 6 Capitol protests.
“It has been an honor to serve with you all from both parties. I love this institution as it still exemplifies what is best about our government, we are the People’s house. While I am proud that we put people before politics, there is much more to do,” Tom Reed said on the House floor. His resignation was effective at the end of the day Tuesday, ending his Congressional career just a few months earlier than anticipated.
According to CBS News, Reed will be joining the D.C.-based “bipartisan lobbying firm” Prime Policy Group after leaving Congress.
Tom Reed was previously accused of inappropriately touching a female lobbyist in 2017. He admitted to the allegations in an apology in March of 2021 and said the incident occurred “at a time in my life in which I was struggling.”
Reed has represented New York’s 23rd district since 2010. Republican Claudia Tenney of New York’s 22nd district had declared she would run to fill Reed’s seat, though New York’s final Congressional maps are still being decided. The New York Court of Appeals recently ruled that the state’s Congressional maps — which overwhelmingly favored Democrats — were unconstitutional.
U.S. Rep. Tom Reed had multiple votes that drew the ire of America First conservatives. He was one of six House Republicans who voted to censure then-President Trump following the January 6 Capitol protests and later became one of 35 GOP congressman to vote in favor of establishing a Congressional committee to investigate the day’s events.
Most recently, Reed was one of 13 House Republicans who helped to rescue President Biden’s massive spending package.
