Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who once served as House Majority Leader, House Minority Whip, and Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, will be retiring from Congress at the end of his current term. He has been in Congress longer than any other Democrat.

“I have decided not seek to another term in the people’s House,” he said on Thursday on the House floor. “I make this decision with sadness, for I love this House, an institution the framers designed to reflect the will of the American people and to serve as the guardian of their liberty and their democracy.”

Hoyer is 86 years old, and he took office in 1981. He’s been a statewide figure in Maryland politics since 1967, when he first joined the Maryland Senate.

There was an outpouring of messages from some of the biggest voices in Washington following his announcement.

“Steny Hoyer is a model public servant, always keeping the American people front and center,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark posted amid the news. “[House Democrats] are so grateful for his leadership and wish him and Elaine all the best in their next chapter.”

“Steny Hoyer’s departure is truly the end of an era in House Democratic politics. Steny always chose the more civil path, which is why he earned the mutual respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle—as a fair dealer, a respected leader, and an institution within the institution he most loved,” former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy posted.

Hoyer joins Rep. Nancy Pelosi in not seeking re-election. The two worked together for many years when Pelosi was House Speaker.

“Steny has been a steady presence for our Caucus in Democratic Leadership and a valued colleague. His deep knowledge of the institution, respect for its traditions and commitment to public service have earned him the admiration of colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” Pelosi wrote on X. “Personally, Steny has been not only a trusted partner in leadership, but a dear friend. As he concludes his extraordinary service in Congress, we celebrate Steny’s legacy of decency and devotion to country. Our gratitude to him and his family is boundless, and we wish them every happiness in the years ahead.”

Pelosi is 85 years old, and both of their departures will likely create highly competitive Democratic primaries in their deep blue districts. Age is becoming a major factor in the Democratic Party’s discussions on how to move forward in the Trump era, especially after former President Joe Biden decided to exit the 2024 election last summer.

However, some Republicans said his departure is another indicator of the Democratic Party shifting further to the Left, especially in the wake of Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election in New York City.

“Democrat Dinosaur Steny Hoyer is the latest domino to fall in the radical socialist takeover of the Democrat Party, just months after he drew a primary challenger from the left,” the National Republican Campaign Committee posted. “The far-left is pushing out Democrat Dinosaurs to make room for Mamdani’s socialist minions!”

Hoyer is one of 45 representatives who will be leaving the chamber in 2026, according to Ballotpedia.

A Minneapolis learning center facing fraud officially shut its doors earlier this week — shortly after it finally fixed its misspelled sign.

State records show that the Quality Learning Center’s license was “closed as of January 6, 2026,” following weeks of scrutiny after journalist Nick Shirley featured the center in a video on alleged Somali daycare fraud in Minnesota. The daycare received around $1.9 million from Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program in 2025, bringing its total state funding up to around $10 million since 2019, according to CNN.

The center, which misspelled “learning” on its sign, appeared to be empty when Shirley showed up to ask questions in a video he posted on December 26. A man who identified himself as the manager of the Quality Learning Center later told reporters that Shirley arrived too early for any children to be present, as the center operates from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

“Kids come to us, clients come to us, their parents come to us – they’re here daily, they leave on time, they come on time. There is no fraud going on whatsoever,” said Ibrahim Ali, who added that he was born in the United States and is of Somali descent. Ali argued that Shirley’s video was meant to paint Minnesota’s large Somali community in a negative light.

After Shirley’s video went viral, around 20 children were seen going into the Quality Learning Center’s building, the New York Post reported.

“We’ve never seen kids go in there until today. That parking lot is empty all the time, and I was under the impression that place is permanently closed,” one person told the Post on December 29.

A state official said last month that the Quality Learning Center had already closed down after Shirley’s video spread online and in the media, but a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families later clarified that the center decided to remain open. Two weeks later, however, it appears that the owners of the suspicious daycare changed their minds.

Along with allegations of fraud, the Quality Learning Center also faced an astonishing number of state violations. The daycare was hit with 121 violations from state inspectors in the past four years, The Daily Wire previously reported. The 121 violations in four years are extraordinarily high for daycares in Minnesota, as the vast majority of daycares in the state received no violations during their annual licensing review, according to a 2020 government report.

A state inspection in December of 2022 found that the daycare did not properly keep children’s attendance records. In 2024, the center received multiple violations because it lacked children’s physical exam and immunization documentation.

The fraud allegations threw Minnesota back into the spotlight last month after federal prosecutors charged dozens of people for allegedly defrauding taxpayers and taking money from state welfare programs. Most of the people charged by the feds in the alleged scheme were of Somali descent.

The fraud investigations in Minnesota also led to the Trump administration deploying 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis last week. The city’s leftist leaders and residents have protested President Donald Trump’s move to target Minneapolis in immigration enforcement, and chaos erupted on Wednesday when a woman was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent after she blocked federal agents with her vehicle and then began to drive toward an agent who was standing in front of her SUV.

Protests continued on Thursday morning following the shooting as demonstrators confronted federal agents outside of an ICE facility. Schools in Minneapolis also closed on Thursday as the city braced for anti-ICE protests.

Related: LIVE UPDATES: Minneapolis Schools Close As City Braces For Anti-ICE Protests After Shooting