Rep. Nita Lowey, the first woman to lead the powerful House Appropriations Committee and a 31-year veteran of Congress, announced Thursday that she will retire at the end of next year. Lowey is a longtime ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and is one of Capitol Hill’s old-school dealmakers. “Frankly to have a job that I love so very much made this a very difficult choice,” Lowey said in an interview.
