Luke Russert is leaving NBC, political reporting, effective Friday

Luke Russert joined NBC News as a politics reporter in 2008, fresh out of college and just six weeks after the sudden death of his father, veteran NBC newsman Tim Russert. On Wednesday, Russert and NBC announced that the congressional correspondent, now 31, has decided to leave the network, effective Friday. In a statement, Russert said he is not moving to a rival network but instead "taking some time away from political reporting" and pondering what to do with the rest of his life.

The sudden departure of a high-profile TV regular raised eyebrows in Washington and on Capitol Hill, CNNMoney reports, but friends and colleagues say that Russert is just bored and restless and looking for a change, or at least the chance to see if he wants a change. "It's fair to say my broadcast career began in an unusual way after college graduation and the death of my father," Russert said in his statement. "As a result, I threw myself into the work and never took the time to reflect, to travel, and to experience many things that would have given me a clearer sense of what my future should be."

NBC said that Russert, whose first assignment was the 2008 conventions, is leaving on Friday because as a congressional reporter he's not scheduled to cover the Republican and Democratic conventions starting next week, and because Russert wanted to leave now.

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