WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., announced Wednesday his intention to run for an eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Womack joined the House in January 2011 after a 12-year tenure as the mayor of Rogers. His responsibilities in the current Congress involve serving on the House Appropriations Committee, including overseeing its Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee as chairman. He led the House Budget Committee from January 2018 to January 2019.
“I am uniquely positioned to make a true difference in Washington,” he said in a news release. “I remain committed to restoring conservative values, American values that make our nation the greatest in the world.”
According to the congressman, his priorities for the next Congress will focus on supporting the U.S. military and constituent needs, as well as addressing what he described as the Biden administration’s “far-left agenda.”
“It is the highest honor of my lifetime to have the trust and confidence of Third District Arkansans and I will always fight to preserve our shared values,” he added.
Womack timed his announcement with the House abuzz with interest regarding an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over business dealings involving Biden's son, Hunter. Lawmakers additionally face a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending plan to avoid a government shutdown as House Republicans struggle to pass appropriations measures given their slim majority.
The Rogers congressman has been vocal in recent months in challenging the political culture on Capitol Hill. Womack told Arkansas business leaders earlier this year Congress must overcome the “division of the body politic” and work together to pass legislation.
“There are so many issues facing us right now, and yet we are so politically divided,” he told the group on May 11. “Everything up here is a weapon. Everything up here has some political weaponization to it.”
Womack made his remarks as the Biden administration and congressional leaders grappled with reaching a deal on raising the debt ceiling. The White House and House Republican leaders eventually agreed to suspend the debt ceiling until January 2025 and cap spending.
“It’s sad that the greatest country in the history of the world has this great political divide going on that’s keeping it from doing its most basic function,” he said.
After The Washington Post in July reported Womack was considering retirement, the congressman insisted he had “every intention of running for re-election and using my work to fix the institution I love.”
“I have always used Labor Day as the time frame for these decisions," he said. "I take nothing for granted, and I’m honored every day to serve my constituents in Arkansas’ Third District.”