Steny Hamilton Hoyer (/ˈstɛni ˈhɔɪər/ STEN-ee HOY-ər; born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 5th congressional district since 1981.

His district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C. Hoyer is the dean of the Maryland congressional delegation and the most senior Democrat in the House.

[5][6] Hoyer was born in New York City but grew up in Mitchellville, Maryland, the son of Jean (née Baldwin) and Steen Theilgaard Høyer.

Hoyer narrowly won a crowded seven-way Democratic primary, beating Spellman's husband, Reuben, by only 1,600 votes.

(However, at the height of national polarization after the Supreme Court's intention to overturn Roe v. Wade leaked, Hoyer controversially endorsed a pro-life incumbent House member over his pro-choice primary challenger.

[30][31][32] "No matter how they spin it, this is still immunity", said Kevin Bankston, a senior lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy rights group that sued over Bush's wiretapping program.

"[33] In June 2010, Hoyer brought up the idea that Congress could temporarily extend middle-class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, suggesting that making them permanent would cost too much.

[35] In February 2021, Hoyer made a speech in Congress that has been viewed online more than two million times, criticizing a Facebook post by U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The post featured a gun-toting Greene next to three members of the "Squad"—Representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib—with the caption "Democrats' Worst Nightmare".

In his speech, Hoyer compared Greene's words with those of Representative Steve King, who was removed from the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees in 2019 after comments he made to The New York Times questioning why white supremacy was considered offensive.

Hoyer said that, in both posts, Greene had promoted baseless conspiracy theories far more offensive and incendiary than the comment that led Republicans to strip King of his committee roles.

In September 2007, he criticized Representative Jim Moran for suggesting that AIPAC "has pushed [the Iraq] war from the beginning", calling the comment "factually inaccurate".

[45] In January 2019, Hoyer opposed Trump's planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan as "impulsive, irresponsible, and dangerous".

[46] He supports former President Obama's call for authorizing limited but decisive military action in response to the Assad regime's alleged use of chemical weapons.

On February 28, 2014, Hoyer introduced the bill to amend the National Law Enforcement Museum Act to extend the termination date (H.R.

[9] When David E. Bonior resigned as minority whip in early 2002, Hoyer ran in the race to succeed him but lost to Nancy Pelosi.

The day after the 2010 midterm elections, in which the Democrats lost control of the House, Hoyer had a private conversation with Pelosi and said he would not challenge her for minority leader.

[57][58] Hoyer received further support from outgoing Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, and outgoing Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman[59] Pelosi intervened in the contest by supporting Hoyer as Minority Whip, while creating an "Assistant Leader" position for Clyburn, which would keep him as the third-ranking Democrat in the House behind Pelosi and Hoyer (the existing "Assistant to the Leader" post formerly held by Chris Van Hollen is not officially part of the House leadership and was directly appointed by the Minority Leader).

[60][61] Hoyer and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) have been criticized for picking their preferred candidates through an undemocratic process.

[69] A widower for 26 years, Hoyer married Elaine Kamarck, a Clinton administration official and the director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution, in June 2023.