Term-limited in role, Kentucky’s Comer to not seek another term as House Oversight chair

Kentucky U.S. Rep. James Comer will not seek another term as the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. 

Comer, a Republican who represents the state’s 1st Congressional District, first became chairman of the committee in 2023. The committee gave him a second term starting in 2025. 

Austin Hacker, a spokesperson for Comer, said that chairs are subject to term limits. The congressman “supports term limits and will not seek a waiver to continue serving as Chairman next Congress,” he added. 

Comer was first elected to the House in 2016. He is currently seeking reelection to his seat this November, but he is a rumored candidate for the Kentucky governor’s race next year. At the Fancy Farm Picnic in August, Republicans publicly rallied behind Comer and encouraged him to run for the office. Comer later said at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Ham Breakfast he’d likely make an announcement after the November election. 

Two high-profile Kentucky Democrats — Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and former state Rep. Rocky Adkins — have already launched their gubernatorial campaigns. 

Under Comer’s leadership, the House Oversight Committee has made national headlines for its fiery debates. In 2024, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, asked if a committee member could discuss someone’s “bleach blond bad built butch body” after former U.S. Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, accused Crockett of wearing “fake eyelashes.” The committee has also led queries into Democrats, like Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, and his laptop usage. Earlier this year, the committee held former President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt for refusing to testify as part of the committee’s investigation into convicted sex offender and financer Jeffery Epstein. 

Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who represents Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District, said in a Monday letter  to fellow members who have served less than five years in Congress that he is running for Democratic Caucus Leadership Representative. McGarvey was elected to the House in 2022. 

The position can “amplify the voices and priorities of newer Members directly to leadership,” said Caroline Rinker, a spokesperson for McGarvey. 

“He’s currently co-chair of the Future Forum Caucus, which is a generational caucus comprised of 53 young Members of Congress who focus on issues important to younger Americans,” she added.