Wyoming GOP congresswoman retiring, member of Freedom Caucus

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), a Wyoming Republican and the only female member of the rebellious House Freedom Caucus, is retiring from Congress, the four-term lawmaker announced Thursday.

An attorney, rancher and former Wyoming state legislator and treasurer, Lummis is a social conservative who’s been a defender of gun rights. She’s favored efforts to expand drilling for oil and natural gas and has opposed federal restrictions on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a controversial drilling technique.

“I came to Washington to be a reformer, not a career congressman,” Lummis, first elected in 2008, said in a written statement. She added, “Now it is time for a new face to take on this important task for Wyoming.”

Lummis, 61, was explaining her decision later Thursday at a news conference in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

She’s supported the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, which was to run from Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. President Barack Obama rejected the plan last week.

Lummis also opposed the Obama administration’s plan to fight climate change, saying it will drive up electricity rates and cost jobs.

Wyoming — the nation’s top-producing coal state — would need to cut carbon dioxide emissions about 37 percent from 2012 levels by 2030 under Obama’s plan.

“The plan ultimately will have a barely discernable effect on global temperatures and sea levels, and it’s reckless for the government to go ahead with it,” Lummis said.

The Freedom Caucus was instrumental in forcing the resignation of John Boehner, R-Ohio, as House speaker in September. The conservative group, which has around 40 members, complained that Boehner was not aggressive enough in challenging Obama’s health care overhaul and other policies.

Lummis’ statement praised the new speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), R-Wis., for “thoughtful, conservative leadership.”

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.