of the 1998 election, with Bob Livingston of Louisiana chosen by the party to serve as his replacement. Before the new Congress convened in January, however, Livingston announced he would not serve as Speaker, following the revelation of an extramarital affair. Armey initially seemed to have the inside track to become Speaker; as majority leader, he was the number-two Republican in the chamber. However, he was still badly wounded from Largent's challenge, and opted not to run. The post eventually went to Chief Deputy Whip Dennis Hastert of Illinois. Later congressional career Armey served another four years before announcing his retirement in 2002. In his later terms in office, Armey feuded with Focus on the Family leader James Dobson. Armey wrote, "As Majority Leader, I remember vividly a meeting with the House leadership where Dobson scolded us for having failed to 'deliver' for Christian conservatives, that we owed our majority to him, and that he had the power to take our jobs back. This offended me, and I told him so." Armey states that Focus on the Family targeted him politically after the incident, writing, "Focus on the Family deliberately perpetuates the lie that I am a consultant to the ACLU." Armey has also said that "Dobson and his gang of thieves are real nasty bullies." In Armey's final term, he was named chairman of the United States House Committee on Homeland Security and was the primary sponsor of the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security. After Armey's retirement, fellow Texan Tom DeLay was elevated to Armey's Majority Leader position. Armey's son, Scott, ran for his father's seat in the 2002 election, but lost in the Republican Party runoff to Michael C. Burgess, who would go on to hold the strongly Republican 26th District for the GOP in November. One of Armey's former Congressional staff members, Dade Phelan, was elected in 2014 to the Texas House of Representatives as a Republican, representing the Beaumont area in House District 21. In January 2021, Phelan was elected the 76th Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Advisor and lobbyist DLA Piper After leaving office, Armey joined the Washington office of the law firm DLA Piper as a senior policy advisor. Armey was also the firm's co-chairman of its Homeland Security Task Force. In 2009, Armey's FreedomWorks group launched a campaign against health care reform proposals, accusing the Obama administration of