He established the Lewisburg Saturday News in 1881, serving as editor and publisher until his death.

Focht was elected as a Republican to the Sixtieth, Sixty-first, and Sixty-second Congresses.

He served as Chairman of the United States House Committee on War Claims during the Sixty-sixth Congress, and the United States House Committee on the District of Columbia during the Sixty-seventh Congress.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, and 1930, and also in 1932 for the unexpired term of Edward M. Beers.

Focht was again elected to the Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-fifth Congresses and served until his death in Washington, D.C.