Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, a overseas coverage chief who previously chaired the Home Homeland Safety and International Affairs Committees, introduced Sunday that he won’t search reelection in 2026 after 11 phrases.
On ABC’s “This Week,” McCaul known as it “the respect of a lifetime” to serve his constituents of central Texas and chair the 2 Congressional Home committees.
He stated he’ll serve out the rest of his time period however is searching for a “new problem” within the nationwide safety and overseas coverage realm. In a publish on X shortly after the announcement, McCaul wrote that he is “prepared for a brand new problem in 2027”.
“I wish to proceed to serve the folks on this nation in nationwide safety and overseas coverage, and do what I’ve carried out the final twenty years – make America stronger and the world safer,” McCaul stated.
McCaul had served as chairman of the highly effective Home International Affairs Committee and had been one of many strongest advocates for U.S. help for Ukraine. On Sunday, he disputed Mr. Trump’s feedback final week that the incursion of Russian drones over Poland’s airspace may very well be a mistake.
“With all deference to the president, I do not assume that was a mistake. I believe [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is testing the resolve of NATO,” McCaul stated.
McCaul didn’t announce any plans to run for an additional workplace, becoming a member of two different Home Republicans who’ve introduced they plan to retire. McCaul is one in every of solely 4 Republicans from Texas whose time within the Home predates President Trump’s first time period.
His announcement comes amid a time of change for Texas Republicans as state lawmakers have pushed via a uncommon mid-decade redistricting in an effort to achieve extra seats for the celebration within the U.S. Home. Though in keeping with a CBS Information evaluation of the districts based mostly on the 2024 vote for Mr. Trump, the ideological make-up of McCaul’s district isn’t prone to change a lot.
McCaul joins two different Texas Republicans who’ve already introduced they won’t search reelection, though one in every of them, Rep. Chip Roy, has introduced he’ll as an alternative run for Texas Legal professional Normal.
McCaul most lately led a multi-year investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Aghanistan, during which 13 service members had been killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul. He spoke to “Face the Nation” final yr concerning the report, criticizing President Biden who he claimed “[prioritized] politics and his private legacy over America’s nationwide safety pursuits”.
In 2023 as chairman of the International Affairs Committee, McCaul led a bipartisan delegation of Home members to Taiwan to fulfill with Taiwanese enterprise leaders and senior authorities officers in an effort to strengthen financial and protection relationships. The consultant was sanctioned by the Chinese language Communist Occasion after the go to, which McCaul wore as “a badge of honor“.
McCaul informed “This Week” that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults modified his life. Earlier than changing into a member of Congress, he labored as a counterterrorism federal prosecutor with the Division of Justice. Trying again at his profession as a congressmember, McCaul recounted the occasions he is seen.
“I noticed the rise of ISIS within the caliphate. As chairman of International Affairs, I noticed Afghanistan fall and Putin invade Ukraine, and the Center East on fireplace, after which the risk from Chairman Xi and China and the Indo-Pacific,” McCaul stated.
Rep. Brian Mast, the Florida Republican who now serves as chairman of the International Affairs Committee, thanked McCaul in a assertion on X “for being an incredible chief within the U.S. Home” and “for setting the instance of be a diplomat and statesman”.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican who can be a member of the International Affairs Committee, known as McCaul his “mentor and pal” and stated he’s a “super chief defending America at dwelling and overseas” in a publish on X.
McCaul’s announcement comes at a time when quite a lot of Representatives are leaving their seats on the finish of the time period to hunt different places of work, primarily within the U.S. Senate and on the gubernatorial degree.
