Rep. Mark Amodei, Nevada’s only GOP congressman, has become the thirtieth House Republican to announce that they will not seek reelection ahead of the upcoming midterms.
“Serving the people of Nevada has been the honor of my lifetime. Nobody is prouder of our Nevada Congressional District than me. Thank you for the honor. Every achievement worth doing began with listening to Nevadans and fighting for our values,” Amodei said in a statement posted to social media.
“I came to Congress to solve problems and to make sure our State and Nation have strong voice in the federal policy and oversight processes. I look forward to finishing my term. After 15 years of service, I believe it is the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch,” he added.
Amodei, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, recently made headlines for criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s response after Minneapolis anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti was fatally shot in a scuffle with federal agents.
“There’s people who have had it with Kristi Noem,” Amodei told the Nevada Independent after the January incident. “For an administration that’s had a lot of success on the border and immigration issues generally, in my view, this has put all that stuff into question, and whether that’s right or not, well, it is politics, and perception is reality. And right now, the perception is not outstanding.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, Noem repeated talking points pushed by White House aide Stephen Miller that described Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” who sought to inflict “maximum damage” on federal agents, Breitbart News reported.
Amodei characterized DHS’s reaction to Pretti’s killing as “reflexive defense” and disagreed with the accusation of “domestic terrorism.”
“Sending [White House border czar] Tom Homan to check in on one of Kristi Noem’s departments operating up there after the last few weeks is not a sign of confidence,” he told the outlet. “She didn’t do herself any favors when she called this guy a domestic terrorist.”
He went on to call President Donald Trump’s decision to send Homan to Minnesota “a step in the right direction,” and added, “If anybody thinks they’re going to ‘talking point’ their way out of this, they’re nuts.”
House Republicans declining to run for reelection are outpacing their Democrat counterparts so far, with the Hill reporting that 21 Democrat representatives have announced retirements or campaigns for higher office.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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