US House Republican McCaul, a vocal Ukraine ally, will not seek re-election

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By Bo Erickson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Representative Michael McCaul from Texas, a longtime Republican lawmaker focused on foreign policy, announced on Sunday he would not seek re-election for his Texas seat next year.    McCaul, the former chair of the House of Representatives’ Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees and an advocate of U.S. military support for Israel and for Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces, said he will serve the remainder of his term through 2026.

“I’m looking for a new challenge in the same space that would be national security, foreign policy, but just in a different realm,” McCaul said on ABC’s “This Week” program.    First elected to Congress in 2004, McCaul used his experience as a former federal prosecutor with expertise in national security and counter-terrorism to advocate for a robust U.S. response after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the subsequent wars involving U.S. troops in the Middle East, and most recently, as a top ally for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.     His support for Ukraine at times put him at odds with many others in his party. The Trump administration’s relations with Ukrainian leaders have been choppy, especially after the clash between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House in February.     “I remain hopeful that we can still achieve a real and lasting peace in Ukraine that ensures Ukraine will be free from further Russian aggression,” McCaul said at the time.     McCaul’s Republicans have a slim 219-213 majority in the House, but his district near the Houston suburbs is not seen as in play in the 2026 midterm elections. McCaul won re-election in 2024 by nearly 30 percentage points against his Democratic challenger.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson; additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Don Durfee and Paul Simao)