Only female chair of a House committee says she'll retire

ALAN FRAM
Only female chair of a House committee says she'll retire
House Homeland Security subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security Chair Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich. gives an opening statement on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 23, 2013, during the subcommittee's hearing on "A Study in Contrasts: House and Senate Approaches to Border Security". (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The only female chair of a House committee said Thursday that she will retire from Congress when her term expires at the end of next year.

Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., announced her decision in a press release and a video statement on her Facebook page. She said she would be "coming home," but did not say why she was leaving the House or specify her future plans.

"None of us know what the future will bring, but I hope God grants me grace to continue to give back to this magnificent place we call Michigan," she said.

Miller has chaired the House Administration Committee, which oversees the chamber's day-to-day operations, since 2013. Under attack by Democrats for not protecting women's rights, GOP leaders awarded her that post after she lost an attempt to head the more influential Homeland Security Committee, where she has headed the subcommittee on border security.

Miller, who has a mostly conservative voting record, was first elected to Congress in 2002. She is 60.

She was re-elected last year with 69 percent of the vote. Republicans seem likely to keep her GOP-leaning district in the 2016 elections.

Three other House members — two Republicans and a Democrat — have so far announced they will not seek re-election next year. The GOP has a 245-188 advantage over Democrats, plus vacancies in two Republican-held seats, and the party's hold on the House seems unlikely to be seriously threatened in next year's elections.