By Mary Kay Mallonee, CNN
(CNN) — Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer is expected to announce Thursday that he is retiring after serving more than four decades in Congress.
Hoyer, 86, told The Washington Post in a lengthy interview that he made the decision to leave the House with his family over the holidays.
The third-longest-serving member of the House, Hoyer told the Post, “I did not want to be one of those members who clearly stayed, outstayed his or her ability to do the job.”
Hoyer, the former House majority leader, will formally announce his retirement in a speech on the House floor Thursday, the paper reported.
CNN has reached out to Hoyer’s office for additional comment.
While other members of Congress have left office tired and frustrated with the political games on Capitol Hill, Hoyer told the Post he still loves the institution.
Hoyer told the paper that his constituents ask him when Congress will operate in a more functional way.
“As long as the people of America elect angry, confrontational people, don’t be surprised that democracy works and you get an angry, confrontational Congress,” he told the Post.
The lawmaker bemoaned the state of American politics, telling the Post it’s been deteriorating for decades. Hoyer put much of the blame on President Donald Trump, pointing to Trump’s pardoning of those convicted in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“His greatest strength, he has no shame, does not,” Hoyer told the paper. “And his people don’t care whatever he does, pardoning 1,600 people who committed treason. Just astounding, and then he gets away with it.”
Hoyer spent more than a decade in the Maryland state Senate before taking his political ambition to the US House. Elected to Congress in 1981 through a special election, Hoyer’s tenure included turns as House Democratic whip, deputy majority whip and chair of the Democratic Caucus.
In those roles, Hoyer showed a knack for shepherding landmark legislation through divided coalitions, including the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990.
When Hoyer stepped back from his leadership role in 2023, along with Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn, who stepped down as House speaker and majority whip, respectively, it represented a generational change for the Democratic Party in the chamber.
“I think all of us have been around for some time and pretty much have a feel for the timing of decisions. And I think all three of us felt that this was the time,” Hoyer told CNN’s Dana Bash at the time.
In his interview with the Post, Hoyer praised the 85-year-old Pelosi, who announced late last year that she would not seek reelection after nearly 40 years in Washington. He called her “tough as nails” and said she was the best of the 10 speakers he served under during his time in Congress.
“Sure, I would have loved to have been speaker. Who wouldn’t love to be speaker? But they’re not deep regrets,” he told the paper.
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