Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) announced on Tuesday he will not seek re-election.

“After 20 years serving Southwest Florida, I’ve decided it’s time to pass the torch and begin a new chapter,” Buchanan said.

“Serving you has been the honor of my lifetime, and I’m deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me,” he added.

Buchanan spent nearly all of his time in Congress as a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, a powerful panel that oversees tax policy and other issues. He was in contention to chair the committee after Republicans retook the House of Representatives in November 2022 but ultimately lost the gavel to current Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo. Since then, Buchanan has served as the committee’s vice chair and chairman of its subcommittee on health.

Before leaving office, he is expected to remain influential as Republicans prepare for another major legislative effort via the budget reconciliation process—a mechanism that allows the party controlling both chambers to pass significant policy changes without meeting the Senate’s higher threshold for passage.

Buchanan joins a growing list of House members not seeking re-election in the 2026 midterms, with 28 Republicans and 21 Democrats planning to step down.

He was an early proponent of Trump’s “no tax on tips” proposal, which he wrote into legislation with bipartisan support. Ultimately, a version of the plan made it into the final GOP budget reconciliation package, which Republicans dubbed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”

Representing a district with a sizable population of seniors receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits, Buchanan has prioritized preserving those programs and expanding them. He led House passage last year of legislation that would expand Medicare coverage of hospital care at home.

Early in Trump’s second term, Buchanan became a founding member of the House’s “Make America Healthy Again Caucus.” However, he has also been concerned about health care costs, noting the U.S. spends more on care than other developed countries.

“We’ve just got to find a way together,” he said in December, ahead of the expiration of larger subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance plans. “It needs a major overhaul. It’s just too expensive. We’re spending over $2 trillion on health care. It’s just out of control.”