Hoyer Ends 45-Year Career Amid Democrats’ Generational Shift

Former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will end his House career after more than four decades, joining a wave of Democrats exiting Congress as the party ushers in a new generation of leaders.

The Maryland Democrat announced he won’t run for reelection this year in a floor speech Thursday. Hoyer’s decision will open the solidly blue Southern Maryland seat he’s held since 1981, which has already drawn multiple Democratic primary contestants. More Democrats may also throw their hats into the ring before the Feb. 24 filing deadline.

Hoyer, 86, stepped down from the top rungs of House Democratic leadership in 2023, along with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who announced her retirement late last year. Other old-guard Democrats such as Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also opted out of running for reelection this year amid calls for generational change within the party, ushering in competitive primaries in districts that haven’t seen new representation in decades.

Read More: Pelosi’s Exit Ups Pressure on Other Octogenarian Lawmakers

Younger Democrats have increasingly called on long-serving leaders to step down, especially after 83-year-old former President Joe Biden was pushed to drop out of the 2024 election amid concerns about his age. Hoyer’s announcement will raise questions about other longtime House members like 85-year-old Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who served in leadership with Hoyer and Pelosi and hasn’t announced whether he’ll run for reelection.

Not all of the Democrats’ oldest lawmakers are ready to quit, though. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), 88, says she’s still running for reelection, even as concerns about her mental acuity spur multiple local Democrats — including one of her former staffers — to run for Washington’s sole nonvoting seat. And 87-year-old Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the high-profile Financial Services Committee, has made no indication that she plans to step down from the job next year.

Multiple younger House Democrats challenged older committee leaders, including Nadler, in late 2024 after the party’s disappointing election cycle. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), 48, last year became the first sophomore House member in more than a century to be chosen as a ranking member when his colleagues elected him to lead them on the Oversight Committee. The leadership changes and a growing wave of octogenarian retirements reflect the party’s focus on putting forward lawmakers with the best shot at countering President Donald Trump and winning elections.

“I’m deeply concerned that this House is not living up to the founders’ goals,” Hoyer said in a floor speech Thursday, urging lawmakers to work across the aisle while surrounded by Democratic and Republican colleagues. Hoyer got standing ovations from lawmakers, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) as he reflected on more than six decades in politics.

Hoyer chaired the House Democratic Caucus and served as minority whip before ascending to majority leader. He was president of the Maryland Senate in the late 1970s, before his election to the House.

Hoyer’s departure will open the top Democratic spot on the Appropriations Committee’s Financial Services and General Government panel, which has jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Service. Hoyer used that position to advocate for an FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, putting him at odds with Virginia lawmakers.