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.”