By Rich McKay
(Reuters) -Five-term U.S. Representative Don Bacon, one of the few Republican voices in Congress who has taken positions independent of President Donald Trump, will not seek reelection, media reports said on Saturday, handing Democrats a chance to pick up another seat in the closely divided House.
A spokesperson for Bacon, 61, who represents a swing district in Nebraska, did not immediately respond to inquiries from Reuters on Saturday.
The news was reported late on Friday by Punchbowl News. The New York Times said Bacon’s official announcement is expected Monday.
His impending retirement is a break for Democrats hoping to win control of the House next year and a stronger chance in pushing back against Trump. Republicans control the House with a slim three-vote majority.
His district, a key battleground which includes Omaha, saw Democrat Kamala Harris carrying 4 percentage points over Trump in the 2024 U.S. election.
In April, Bacon announced that he was contemplating retirement. “I want to always be productive and making a difference. But regarding running for a sixth term, that is a family decision,” he said at the time and that he would make that decision in summer.
Bacon, a retired U.S. Air Force general who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, has often clashed with Trump. In April he suggested that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should be fired over allegations that he texted sensitive American military strike plans from his personal phone to his wife, brother, attorney and others.
Bacon has also opposed Trump over the war in Ukraine and said the president appeared to be trying to appease his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
He also crafted legislation that would require Trump to seek congressional approval before imposing tariffs and has criticized White House actions to freeze congressionally appropriated federal funds.
His rare Republican independence has resulted in attacks by Trump supporters on social media.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in AtlantaEditing by Humeyra Pamuk and Diane Craft)
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