Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., has reportedly decided to resign from Congress; he's said to be announcing his decision at a press conference Wednesday morning.
For now, word is that Wexler's decision isn't due to any scandal, and that he won't be saying, in the usual parlance, that he just wants to spend more time with his family. Democratic sources are telling various media outlets that Wexler, who's been in Congress since 1997, is leaving to take another job.
What nobody seems to know for certain is what that job will be. It's generally said to be a “public policy position,” probably having something to do with the Middle East, which is a specialty of Wexler's. Some speculation has Wexler being named U.S. ambassador to Israel, a country the congressman's taken a great deal of interest in, but at least one of Florida's veteran political reporters has heard that's not it.
Politico's Laura Rozen initially reported on talk that Wexler would take over at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which handles most foreign aid given out by the government. But she's since walked that back, and has talk from other sources about Wexler going to the private sector for financial reasons; Rozen's pointing at a recent talk the congressman gave at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think-tank, as a possible hint of his plans.
If Wexler doesn't want to jump to the private sector, a job in the administration -- like an ambassadorship or at USAID or anywhere else -- would make sense. Wexler was an early and vocal supporter of President Obama, and played a key role for then-Sen. Obama during the Democratic primary last year.
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