Rep. Steny Hoyer, the longest-serving House Democrat, to retire at the end of term

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the longest-serving Democrat in Congress and once a rival to become House speaker, will announce Thursday he is set to retire at the end of his term.

Hoyer, who served for years in party leadership and helped steer Democrats through some of their most significant legislative victories, is set to deliver a House floor speech about his decision, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

“Tune in,” he said in a social media post.

At 86, Hoyer is the latest in a generation of senior-most leaders stepping aside, making way for a new era of lawmakers eager to take on governing. Retirements have been high in the political parties, Democrats and Republicans, ahead of the midterm elections in November that will determine control of Congress.

First arriving in the House in 1981 after a special election, Hoyer’s reach extended beyond his Chesapeake Bay-area district, and he quickly climbed the leadership ranks to become the No. 2 Democrat. He served as majority leader after Democrats swept to power after the 2006 election, and again in 2019 after they regained control during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Through those years Hoyer worked as a partner and sometimes rival to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, part of a trio of top Democrats alongside Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina.

That was the era when Democrats, with President Barack Obama, ushered the Affordable Care Act and other signature legislation to law.

During the Trump era, as Democrats worked to win back House control, Hoyer campaigned to court blue-collar voters outside of party strongholds and positioned himself as a potential alternative to Pelosi. For years, Hoyer championed what he called his “Make it in America” agenda to boost industry, production and jobs.

But the leaders have often moved in tandem, and when Pelosi announced last fall she would end her own storied career after this term, Hoyer’s next step was widely watched.