Harry Reid Set To Retire At End Of Current Term

Long term liberal Nevada Senator Harry Reid has announced

that he is retiring.  He told the newspaper that his decision to retire from the Senate was not due to a recent accident or his party’s loss of control of the chamber in the November congressional elections.

Reid was elected to the Senate in 1986, Reid previously served in the House. He has endured tough re-election battles in 1998, 2004 and most recently 2010 -- against Tea Party-backed candidate Sharron Angle.

Among other things, Reid will be remembered for allowing the so-called "nuclear option" in late 2013, where he unilaterally moved to change Senate rules to allow a simple majority vote to overcome filibusters for certain nominations. While procedural, the change was significant because it meant the Senate no longer needed the usual 60 votes to advance on controversial nominations.