Only one year after his re-election (and five years after his Strom Thurmond moment of candor), GOP Senator and former Majority Leader Trent Lott announces he’s resigning from office at the end of this year. [Announcement.] Why so soon? “Lott said that he was going to move into the private sector after 35 years in Congress, but denied that he was getting out before a new two-year ‘cooling-off’ restriction takes effect on Jan. 1. The restriction bars lawmakers from taking lobbying jobs for two years after they leave public service.“