Antitrust Stalwart Cicilline to Retire From House in June
(Bloomberg) -- US Representative David Cicilline will resign June 1, leaving House Democrats without one of their most aggressive stalwarts on antitrust, equality and tech accountability issues.
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Cicilline, who won reelection to a seventh term in November with 64% of the vote, plans to run the Rhode Island Foundation. There will be a special election to fill his seat.
“The same energy and commitment I brought to elected office, I will now bring as CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, advancing their mission to ensure all Rhode Islanders can achieve economic security, access quality, affordable health care, and attain the education and training that will set them on a path to prosperity,” Cicilline said in a statement.
Cicilline, 61, chaired the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee from 2019 until Republicans took control last month. He led efforts to rein in the largest US tech platforms and spearheaded an investigation into Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook. The panel issued an influential report on the dominance of the US tech platforms in the fall of 2020 and Cicilline led a bipartisan coalition over the next two years that pushed for antitrust legislation aimed at the companies.
As one of the few openly gay members in Congress, Cicilline has been outspoken on LGBTQ rights. He has sponsored the Equality Act, which would include sexual orientation and gender identity in an expanded definition of federal civil rights. The legislation has passed the House but not the Senate.
Cicilline served as an impeachment manager during former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. This year, he joined a group of LGBTQ lawmakers to introduce a resolution to remove embattled Representative George Santos of New York from the House.
In November 2022, Cicilline bowed out of a bid to be Democratic assistant leader, the fourth-highest leadership position among House Democrats. Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina won the role.
--With assistance from Leah Nylen.
(Updates with biographical information starting in fifth paragraph)
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