Congressman John Ratcliffe of Heath, Texas has withdrawn his name from consideration for Director of National Intelligence.

In a Tweet, the congressman stated: "While I am and will remain very grateful to the President for his intention to nominate me as Director of National Intelligence, I am withdrawing from consideration.

This is a shocking turn of events, but some people had theorized he might withdraw from consideration after some very minor misstatements in his biography.

However, most local Republicans believed Ratcliffe could weather the storm of attacks from Democratic politicians such as Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. However, a statement of concern put forth by Republican Sen. Susan Collins did worry some Republicans pushing for Ratcliffe's fast confirmation.

Because Ratcliffe had been a law partner of former Attorney General John Ashcroft and an aide to Mitt Romney is 2012, it was expected that institutional support would eventually come to him.

However, Ratcliffe's tough questioning of Robert Mueller in later July seemed to rankle some moderate Republicans in the Senate where the party only holds a slim majority.

This withdrawal throws what was supposed to be a crucial special election for Congress in the trash heap. At least for now, Congressman Ratcliffe will stay.

Rep. Ratcliffe is very popular in the district and will likley sail to re-election if he decides to run again.

What is not clear is whether this withdrawal might sour the congressman on politics, especially since the House of Representatives is in Democratic hands which means he is no longer chairman of the the cybersecurity subcommittee which he prized so much.