Democratic lawmakers and leaders are lauding Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the longtime former No. 2 Democratic House leader, as a champion for Israel and say that his retirement, announced Thursday, will deprive Democrats of one of the leading congressional advocates of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. 

Hoyer, 86, has served in Congress since 1981, and was the second-most senior House Democrat from 2007-2023. A prominent voice respected by colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Hoyer has for years led first-term Democrats on trips to Israel with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation. His retirement comes at a time of a sea change on Israel policy among Democratic lawmakers and the party base.

Though he has at times offered criticism of Israeli policies and voted — despite serious objections — for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Hoyer has remained among the most steadfast and outspoken Democratic supporters of Israel during the war in Gaza and was largely supportive of the U.S. strikes on Iran last June.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told Jewish Insider that Hoyer has “historically … been one of the guardians of the U.S.-Israel relationship within the Democratic Party.”

“He will have no replacement, but hopefully you’ll have a Democratic Party with enough successors to sustain and strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Torres continued.

“He has been a great friend to Israel. I’ve traveled to Israel with him. I’ve stood with him in the Appropriations Committee to make sure Israel gets the financial support that it needs to be secure,” Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) told JI. “When you look around this chamber, it’s hard to find many members who have been so long standing advocate[s] for the security of Israel.”

“You see a new wave of of members coming in on both sides who don’t really have the historic context of the importance of security for Israel — and so, yeah, he’s a big loss,” Frankel continued.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) told JI that Hoyer’s retirement would be a “huge loss” for supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

“We’re seeing that — not just with people like [Hoyer], but other senior members — that when they leave, the people who are replacing them are not just [not] pro-Israel. They’re anti-Israel,” Moskowitz said. “What flavor of anti-Israel are we going to get? So for the pro-Israel community, it’s a whole separate concern.”

Hoyer’s suburban Maryland district is safely Democratic, and includes the eastern D.C. suburbs and the outskirts of Annapolis and Baltimore. Five candidates have already declared their candidacy in the district, and several ambitious Maryland political figures could join the race.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) noted in a statement that the two leaders’ experience leading delegations to the Jewish state was one of the factors that united them across the partisan divide.

Brian Romick, the CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, who previously served as Hoyer’s chief of staff and worked for the congressman for almost three decades — beginning as a teenage campaign volunteer — said that one of the critical lessons Hoyer taught him was “why America must remain a steadfast friend of Israel.”

“I helped him lead 12 congressional delegations there, ensuring that members of Congress learned not just about the important strategic relationship between the United States and Israel but also about the miracle of Israel’s very existence,” Romick said. “Those trips were powerful and transformative experiences for us. He worked relentlessly to ensure Israel had the resources it needed to defend itself by itself and fought back against attempts to undermine the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

“Our country, the Democratic Party and the pro-Israel movement are all in a better place today because of his service,” Romick continued.

In a statement, AIPAC praised Hoyer as “one of the most principled champions of the U.S.-Israel alliance to ever serve in Congress.”

“His unwavering commitment to building bipartisan support for Israel’s security, leadership on dozens of congressional delegations to Israel, and moral clarity in defending this partnership have made an impact that will be felt for generations to come,” the organization said.

Outside of his support for Israel, colleagues praised Hoyer as a leader, mentor and a steadfast champion of Congress as an institution.

“Congressman Hoyer is just a very good friend,” Frankel said. “I love him, and I’m going to miss him a lot, and his legacy is amazing. … His departure is going to be a loss in a lot of areas. I mean, the man is amazing, and his historic knowledge of this body is just awesome.”

Moskowitz said that the “institution won’t be the same without him.”

“Steny’s record on a whole host of issues — and also, when new members come in, Steny’s one of the folks that takes you on a tour of this building,” Moskowitz continued. “He brings you along, he helps train you, he also makes you understand when you’re in the majority how you govern, and when you’re in the minority, how you [can] be the loyal opposition. His presence is going to be deeply missed.”

Torres called Hoyer “an institution” who has “dedicated 45 years of his life to serving Congress.”

“You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has a greater reverence for Congress as an institution than Steny Hoyer,” he said.

Romick lauded Hoyer for teaching him “lessons that will stay with me for a lifetime,” and said that his work with Hoyer “profoundly … shape[d] my career and my character.”

“His strong leadership and ability to build consensus to pass important legislation improved the lives of Americans,” Romick added.

Even McCarthy, in his statement, said that Hoyer “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,” calling Hoyer “a good friend” and “the only one trustworthy in his party’s leadership team.”

“The House, his constituents in Southern Maryland he has represented for over 40 years, and our nation are indebted to the service of a statesman like Steny Hoyer,” McCarthy said.