A top House Democrat announced Tuesday that he would step down from a powerful position on the committee with oversight of taxes, trade and healthcare, citing the need to unite the party to stop President-elect Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, who has served since 1983, told his Democratic colleagues in a letter that he would step down as the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee in January, though he would remain on the panel, writing, “I want to do my part to ensure that we are united in the efforts necessary to stop President Trump and Speaker Ryan as they seek to take this country in a very different direction.”
Levin, who is 85, said it was “imperative that we support younger” representatives as they prepare for the next four years of a Republican administration.
He added that he wanted to be “free to focus” on legislation related to healthcare and trade, in addition to tax reform. All three issues come under the committee’s jurisdiction.
Levin was the chairman of the committee when Congress passed Obamacare, and he said he wants to now fight to preserve the law. Republicans are expected next year to advance legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.
“There are now 20 million people counting on us to stop President Trump and the House Republicans from repealing it,” he wrote.
Levin alsoh as been a staunch opponent of tax cuts for high-earners, which Trump’s campaign plans and the House Republican blueprint call for.
Levin said his goal is to fight Trump’s administration, and particularly the agenda of senior adviser Steve Bannon, whose tenure as CEO of Breitbart News showed him what to expect from the future Trump administration.
“My determination to fight harder than ever in the next months has only deepened with the news that the creator of the media platform for the dangerous alternative-right movement which promotes conspiracy theories and white nationalism will take a seat in the White House advising the next U.S. president,” Levin wrote.
* Kyle Feldscher contributed to this report.
