Head of Intelligence Panel in House Says He’ll Retire to Take Job as Radio Host

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) stunned colleagues by announcing he would retire to take a job as a talk radio host, just days after proposing an ambitious overhaul of the nation’s electronic surveillance programs.

Rep Rogers, in his seventh term, will join 19 Democrats and 21 other Republicans leaving the House before the 114th Congress next year. Members of the Intelligence Committee said they were taken completely by surprise. On March 24, Chairman Rogers led a lengthy meeting with members on the National Security Agency overhaul that he and Rep C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) unveiled this week. He gave no indication that he would be leaving. He did, however, inform the House ethics committee in January that he had begun negotiating with Cumulus Media that month, according to documents released Friday by his office. He also gave advance notice to Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH).