High-Ranking Democrat Announces Retirement

He joined the House in 1981 and worked his way up through the ranks. From 2003 to 2007, he was the Democratic whip, and from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023, he was the majority leader.

Hoyer has been in Congress for 45 years, making him the longest-serving House member in Maryland history, according to his biography.

He said that the chamber had changed a lot since he first came there more than 40 years ago.

“The Congress I entered in 1981 was somewhat different,” Hoyer said. “Most Republicans and Democrats worked together in a collegial, productive way. The leaders of the House, Tip O’Neill and Bob Michael, fostered that environment. It was, of course, not a Congress without conflict.”

“I fear that America is heading not toward greatness, but toward smallness, pettiness, divisiveness, and loneliness,” he added.