WASHINGTON — Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., is expected to announce his resignation Thursday evening, multiple Republican sources told NBC News.
It was not immediately clear why the GOP member is planning to leave his seat.
“I’ll let the statement speak for itself,” the Arizona Republican told reporters as he was leaving the House floor Thursday evening after voting to avert a government shutdown and fund the government for an additional two weeks.
Franks’ statement is expected to come Thursday night.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., announced on the Senate floor Thursday that he will leave office at the end of the year. And Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said Tuesday that he was stepping down immediately. Both resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct.
Franks is serving his eighth term in Congress and is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and Republican Study Committee. He is ardently anti-abortion and spearheaded bills in the House to ban the procedure after 20 weeks.
Franks represents a solidly Republican district outside Phoenix that President Donald Trump won by 21 points in 2016. Franks was considering a run for Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake’s seat, who announced in October that he would not seek re-election to the Senate next year.
If Franks leaves office more than six months from the next general election, Doug Ducey, the Republican governor of Arizona, would call for a special election to replace him.