Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, a longtime Democratic leader from suburban Maryland, will join former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in not seeking reelection this year.
“I did not want to be one of those members who clearly stayed, outstayed his or her ability to do the job,” Hoyer said in an interview with The Washington Post published Wednesday.
Hoyer, 86, served as Pelosi’s top lieutenant for years after coming up short against her in a 2001 leadership race, despite the fact that Pelosi backed Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania over Hoyer in a 2006 race for majority leader.
With Pelosi continuing to lead House Democrats until the end of 2022, Hoyer never had the opportunity to become speaker or minority leader himself.
“Sure, I would have loved to have been speaker,” Hoyer said in the interview. “Who wouldn’t love to be speaker? But they’re not deep regrets.”
The Post reported that Hoyer planned a Thursday floor speech to formally announce his upcoming retirement.
Since exiting leadership (as majority leader), Hoyer has returned to the Appropriations Committee, where he has led Democrats on the Financial Services Subcommittee, championing the effort to build a new FBI headquarters complex in Prince George’s County, Md.
The third longest-serving member in the House, Hoyer was still a key player in coordinating federal projects between Congress and the Biden administration after exiting the top leadership ranks, all while working to steer federal funding back to his home state as a newly reinstated appropriator.
Born in New York City, Hoyer is the son of a Danish immigrant who abandoned his family when Hoyer was 9. His stepfather was in the Air Force, and his mother worked at the Navy Federal Credit Union. He spent much of his childhood in Florida, and it was his stepfather’s transfer to Andrews Air Force Base that brought the family to Maryland when Hoyer was in high school.
In 1959, Hoyer was a struggling public relations major at the University of Maryland when he heard then-Sen. John F. Kennedy speak.
Hoyer switched to political science, earned the title of “outstanding male graduate,” then went to law school at Georgetown University. In 1966, at age 27, he was elected to the Maryland Senate. Two terms later, he became its youngest president at the time.
He ran for lieutenant governor on a ticket with acting Gov. Blair Lee III in 1978 and the two lost the primary. Three years later, Hoyer revived his career by claiming the 5th District House seat after Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman fell ill and her seat was vacated. He is currently serving his 22nd full term.
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