Senate Finance Chairman Baucus to Retire

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. (left), announced Tuesday that he would not seek re-election in 2014.

However, he said that he’ll spend his remaining year and a half in office tackling the nation’s “rising debt, a dysfunctional tax code, threats to our outdoor heritage and the need for more good-paying jobs.”

At a national level, Baucus said in a statement that he would continue to work on “simplifying and improving the tax code, tackling the nation’s debt, pushing important job-creating trade agreements through the Senate, and implementing and expanding affordable health care” for more Americans.