Rep. Jerry Nadler To Retire After 34 Years In Congress

Representative Jerry Nadler, the veteran Democrat from Manhattan, announced he will not run for re-election in 2026, ending a 34-year tenure in Congress, the New York Times reported Monday evening.

At 78, Nadler said it was time to make way for a new generation, even though he fears President Trump poses what he called “the most severe threat we’ve had to our system of government since the Civil War.”

Nadler, the longest-serving Jewish member of the House, rose to prominence as Judiciary Committee chairman during Trump’s impeachments. A Columbia graduate and son of a chicken farmer, he first entered Congress in 1992 after years in New York politics.

Nadler has increasingly shifted on Israel, accusing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of committing “mass murder and war crimes in Gaza ‘without question.’” He now supports blocking U.S. offensive weapons sales to Israel, though he says he will continue to back missile defense systems. Despite being long seen as a pro-Israel progressive, Nadler has cozied up to anti-Israel extremists, including endorsing Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City.

Nadler acknowledged that his seat, stretching from Union Square through Central Park, will likely draw a crowded Democratic primary. Allies say he may back Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a former aide, though Nadler declined to name a favored successor.