Saying he was seeking “a new challenge,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Sunday he won’t run for reelection in 2026.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” McCaul told host Martha Raddatz: “I’m going to serve the remainder of my term. But 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, the former chair of the Homeland Security and Foreign Relations Committee, added: “I want to continue to serve the people of 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.”

Raddatz responded: “Well, that’s a good plan. They’ll miss you on Blue Light News. You got a ways to go. Thanks for joining us this morning.”

McCaul subsequently posted the clip on X and added: “It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the people of central Texas and to chair the prestigious Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees. My father’s service in World War II inspired me to pursue a life of public service, with a focus on defending our great nation against global threats, and I have been proud to carry out that mission in Congress for more than two decades. I am ready for a new challenge in 2027 and look forward to continuing to serve my country in the national security and foreign policy realm.”

McCaul, age 63, was first elected in 2004. He drew 63.6 percent of the vote in his last reelection race in 2024.

Most of McCaul’s ABC appearance was spent discussing foreign policy and current international crises. He said, for instance, that he was worried that the deployment of Russian drones over Poland’s airspace last week represented an “escalation” of tensions in Europe.

“We’ve never seen anything like this in recent times,” he said. “And so, what I’m concerned about is that the escalation here and the temperature rising, we got to be very careful not to be on the precipice of a World War III.”

McCaul also said he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue to cause trouble, at least to a point.

“I think he’ll continue to be provocative and saber-rattle. I don’t think he would use nuclear weapons. I think China put a red line,” McCaul told Raddatz.

Republicans claim the GOP megabill, coupled with President Donald Trump’s tariff and immigration policies, will “unleash economic growth.” Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper says not so much.

The Congressional Budget Office’s new economic estimates released Friday predict that over the next three years, policies implemented this year by Trump and the Republican-led Congress will have little effect on growth before the 2028 election.

That’s because Trump’s tariff policies and crackdown on immigration are estimated to cool the economy this year, more than outweighing any growth spurred by the tax and spending package Republicans turned into law this summer.

By next year, CBO expects that balance to change some, as the effects of the megabill begin to outweigh the negative economic impact of tariffs and immigration policy, pushing GDP growth higher than previously predicted.

Then, in the lead-up to the 2028 presidential election, the combination of the GOP policies are estimated to be mostly a wash for economic growth.

In 2027 and 2028, the GOP megabill’s boost to demand will wane as reduced immigration hits the labor force, acting “as a drag on growth,” the budget office predicts. Higher tariffs, however, will partially offset that hit, driving increased domestic production.

The result: As voters head to the polls in November 2028, the level of real GDP will be just 0.1 percent higher than predicted before Trump took office.

President Donald Trump dismissed congressional Democrats’ demands ahead of a looming shutdown deadline in a Fox News Channel interview Friday, casting doubt on whether a deal to keep the government open is even possible.

“There is something wrong with them,” Trump said about Democrats in a rare in-studio “Fox and Friends” interview. “If you gave them every dream right now … they want to give away money to this or that and destroy the country. If you gave them every dream, they would not vote for it.”

“Don’t even bother dealing with them,” he added. “We will get it through because the Republicans are sticking together for the first time in a long time.”

Lawmakers have until midnight on Sept. 30 to reach a funding deal. GOP congressional leaders are eyeing a “clean” stopgap that would keep current spending levels in place, with a few exceptions, until late November.

But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said this week Democrats will not vote for any such bill absent bipartisan negotiations. Both leaders have said that health care concessions, such as extending soon-to-expire insurance subsidies or restoring Medicaid cuts made in the GOP megabill, are essential to a deal.

Democrats have say in the matter because any funding deal will need 60 votes in the Senate, where the GOP has a 52-vote majority. But Trump on Friday suggested he was not aware of the mathematics.

“We have to get Republican votes. That’s all,” Trump claimed. Pressed about the 60-vote threshhold, Trump responded: “No. We’re gonna do a — probably a continuing resolution, or we’re gonna do something. So we’re gonna do something,” he said.

“Here is the problem,” Trump quickly added, “the Democrats have, they’re sick. There is something wrong with them. Schumer is at end of the rope.”

Trump’s comments came after the Associated Press published an interview Friday with Schumer where he reiterated that Democrats would not support a clean GOP-led stopgap without securing health care wins.

The New York Democrat also said he was less reticent about sparking a shutdown now than he was in March, when he warned that a shutdown would only empower Trump to take more control of the federal bureaucracy.

Now, he said, “It will get worse with or without [a shutdown], because Trump is lawless.”