Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-CA), who led the Judiciary Committee during both impeachments of President Donald Trump during his first term, announced Monday that he will not seek an 18th term in Congress in 2026.
Nadler will be 79 when he retires from Congress after 34 years.
He said that his experience seeing the mental decline and advanced age of former President Joe Biden convinced him of the need for generational change in the Democrat Party.
“Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that," he said.
Nadler said he would not involve himself in the Democratic primary that would ensue.
His district in Manhattan is one of the wealthiest in the country.
He didn't say who he thought could replace him, but his longtime aide Assemblyman Micah Lasher may seek the seat, according to reports.
Nadler has hated Trump since the 1980s when they disagreed over development projects in the borough.
More recently, Nadler voiced opposition to mask-wearing by ICE agents even as attacks against them skyrocketed.
Earlier in the summer, Nadler seethed with rage when DHS entered his office and briefly handcuffed an aide while accusing his staff of "harboring rioters," a charge he vehemently denied.
He tried to pack the Supreme Court and wanted to impeach Justice Brett Kavanaugh if Republicans gained the majority in the House, which they did.
Nadler was almost famous for talking out of both sides of his mouth, depending on who benefitted politically.
In 1998 he called the impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton a "lynch mob," while in 2019 he criticized President Donald Trump for using the same term to describe his own impeachment.
His bald-faced lies about Trump during impeachment diminished the credibility of Democrats and ended up boosting Trump's popularity in the end.
Good riddance to Nadler, who became little more than a foil for conservatives and a laughingstock, the more he spewed his irrational hate.
