Orrin Hatch announces retirement, opening potential path to Senate for Mitt Romney

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced in a video Tuesday that he is retiring at the end of his term, putting an end to speculation over the future of the longest-serving Republican senator in American history. "When the president visited Utah last month, he said I was a fighter," Hatch said, adding: "But every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves."

Hatch's retirement conveniently opens up a path for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for the 83-year-old senator's seat, as is expected. Romney, though, is no friend of Trump's, and the president was rumored to have urged Hatch to attempt an eighth term.

Hatch's retirement will also leave open his position as chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

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