Rep. Barney Frank, the coauthor of the comprehensive financial overhaul bill that Congress passed last year, isn't going to seek reelection, his office confirmed Monday.

Frank (D-Mass.) who became the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee after losing his chairmanship when his party lost the majority last year, has served in Congress since 1981.

The Dodd-Frank bill passed mostly along party lines and was pushed by the Obama administration as part of its response to the financial crisis that it inherited.

During his tenure, he's expressed support for the work of credit unions and said that if all financial institutions had acted as responsibly as most credit unions did there would probably not have been a financial crisis. 

The political action committees of CUNA and NAFCU regularly gave his campaign contributions, often the maximum amount of $10,000.

Frank also has been a staunch supporter of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the Dodd-Frank bill. He rarely had a difficult reelection race though last year was held to 54% of the vote.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is in line to succeed Frank as the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.