When Trey Gowdy's name was mentioned as a possible replacement for fired FBI Director James Comey, I scoffed. Floating Gowdy was a smart play from the White House, since they know the base loves him, but I didn't buy it for a second. There are several reasons for that, but at the top of the list is "why would he want to do that? Congress is a nice cushy gig."
Gowdy currently sits on the Oversight Committee, where his brutal interrogations make for riveting YouTube gold. Clips of him grilling the players in just about every major Obama-era scandal are now the stuff of political legend. If you're a Republican, you almost certainly love watching him tear into whatever crooked Democrat has the misfortune to cross his path.
In short, it's a lot of fun and being a member of Congress has an awful lot of perks.