Texas Republican Congressman Michael McCaul announced Sunday that he will not seek re-election in 2026.
He handily won reelection in 2024, defeating his Democratic opponent by nearly 30 points.
I think Putin is testing the resolve of NATO,” McCaul said.
McCaul also criticized Israel’s attempted strikes on Hamas leadership in Qatar last week.
On negotiating with Putin Raddatz: Do you think President Trump was played, especially at that Alaska summit?
Michael McCaul, a Republican congressman from Texas, declared on Sunday that he will not run for reelection in 2026.
Another House Republican who announced their retirement from public office this year is McCaul, a former chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees. Rep. and Morgan Luttrell. Bacon, Don, from Nebraska.
First elected to Congress in 2004, McCaul is currently in his eleventh term. He told co-anchor Martha Raddatz on “This Week” that he was “looking for a new challenge.”. “”.
Although he intended to serve out the rest of his term, McCaul stated that he wanted to “continue to serve the people in this country in national security and foreign policy and do what I’ve done the last two decades: make America stronger and the world safer.” “It’s been an honor to serve for over two decades in the Congress,” he said. “.”.
McCaul’s district, which includes parts of Austin and extends as far east as the suburbs of Houston, has a strong Republican lean. With a nearly 30-point margin over his Democratic opponent, he easily won reelection in 2024.
McCaul’s district was marginally weakened when Texas Republicans redesigned their congressional maps last month in an effort to win five additional GOP-leaning House seats in the upcoming midterm elections. According to Texas Legislative Council data, 60 percent of the district’s population voted for President Donald Trump under the newly drawn lines, compared to 61 percent under the previous map.
McCaul, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee now, also responded to this week’s Russian drone invasion of NATO ally Poland by rejecting Trump’s claim that the breach of Polish airspace might have been an accident.
Respectfully, I don’t believe that was an error on the part of the president. I believe Putin is putting NATO’s resolve to the test,” McCaul stated.
Additionally, McCaul denounced Israel’s last week’s attempts to strike Hamas leaders in Qatar.
“We requested that they engage in these discussions with Hamas,” he stated. The president stated that this shot across the bow does not, in my opinion, serve the long-term interests of either Israel or the United States. “”.
Here are additional highlights from the interview with McCaul.
On Putin’s influence over NATO.
He wants to observe Poland’s and NATO’s responses. Fortunately, Poland’s response was excellent. They shot them down, but it demonstrates Putin’s increasing aggression in the area. In addition to the drones, there have been war games with Belarus near the NATO border, the Baltic states, nuclear bombers that flew near Poland’s airspace, and then these strikes in the Arctic. Right now, he is really exerting pressure.
Regarding talks with Putin.
Raddatz: Do you believe that, particularly during that Alaska summit, President Trump was duped?
