WASHINGTON — Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), whose district stretches across Louisville and some of its suburbs, will retire after 16 years in Congress, but he told Spectrum News 1 he never planned to stay the role for that long. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) reflects on his 16 years in office

  • Yarmuth is the only Democrat in the Kentucky delegation

  • He is the Chairman of the House Budget Committee

  • He says his top priority is making sure a Democrat retains his seat

“I was 59 when I was elected,” Yarmuth said. “I suspect if Hillary Clinton was elected in 2016, that would have been my last term, but when Trump was elected, I knew it was not time to back away from that battle.” 

Yarmuth is the only Democrat in the Kentucky delegation and is currently serving in the coveted role as Chairman of the House Budget Committee. 

“The major advantage to being a committee chair is that you have a seat at the leadership table,” Yarmuth said. “The budget committee doesn’t have a lot of legislative authority, not like the appropriations committee or ways and means or others, but we do have an important rhetorical role. We have hearings on the president’s budget and how various proposals might affect the budget.” 

Yarmuth said he wasn’t really looking for a new job when he started in 2007. In fact, he said he was “semi-retired.” 

Yarmuth said he was “concerned about the direction of the Bush agenda.”

Rep. Anne Northup (R-KY) represented the Kentucky’s 3rd district from 1997 until 2006. 

“If I could be one of those 15 seats that flips the House from Republican to Democrat and stop the Bush agenda, then I will accomplish something important and it doesn’t matter whether I like the job or not,” Yarmuth said.

When it comes to his proudest accomplishment in office, Yarmuth lists authoring the American Rescue plan at the top. The law provided relief from the economic burdens created during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I was driving back home, and I just kept thinking about all the millions of people that we helped by passing that bill,” Yarmuth said. “It was very, very emotional for me.” 

Yarmuth said that although he thinks he advocated for issues he believes in, he has “a lot of regrets institutionally.” 

“I terribly regret that we have not been able to do more about keeping money out of politics,” Yarmuth said. “Even though the Supreme Court has been an obstacle to doing it, we certainly had legislative options available to us, some of which passed in the House but were never passed in the Senate.” 

He also lists the lack of action on gun safety legislation as a regret. Yarmuth wears an “F” pin on his suit daily that represents his “F” rating from the National Rifle Association. 

Yarmuth announced in October that he would not seek reelection. He quickly endorsed the Minority Leader in the Kentucky State Senate, Morgan McGarvey, to replace him. Democratic state Rep. Attica Scott is also running for the seat. 

“My top priority is to keep the seat in Democratic hands,” Yarmuth said. 

YARMUTH EXPLAINS WHY HE CHOSE TO ENDORSE MCGARVEY HERE.