Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., a leading voice on cybersecurity issues in Congress, announced on Tuesday that he will not seek reelection in 2026.

The senator is currently the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and chaired the committee from 2021 to 2025.

“I always knew there would come a time to pass the torch to the next generation of public servants and allow them the opportunity to bring fresh energy and ideas to our nation’s capital,” Sen. Peters said in a video about his decision on Tuesday.

The Detroit News first broke the news with an interview with Sen. Peters, in which he said he’s focused on “finishing strong” for his last two years in the Senate.

“There’s still a lot of work to do. We have issues related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, natural disasters, cybersecurity to border security, and I’m intimately involved in all these issues, and we’ll continue to do that,” Sen. Peters said.

In the video, the senator said he is “leaving Congress, but I am not retiring.” According to the Detroit News, Sen. Peters hopes to continue to play a role in developing public policy, with a focus on ensuring equitable access to changes in technology such as AI.

During his time in Congress, the senator has introduced several technology and cybersecurity-related bills.

Notably, Sen. Peters was one of the original authors of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) – which President Joe Biden signed into law in March 2022. CIRCIA requires CISA to develop and implement regulations requiring covered entities to report cyber incidents and ransomware payments to the government.

Under the law, critical infrastructure owners and operators are obligated to report certain cyber incidents to CISA within 72 hours, and to report ransomware payments they made to attackers within 24 hours.

Sen. Peters has also introduced several other bipartisan bills that aim to establish an interagency committee to harmonize cybersecurity regulations, strengthen CISA’s ability to work with international partners on matters of cybersecurity, and protect open-source software.

The senator has also been a big advocate for bolstering healthcare cybersecurity. He has urged CISA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand cybersecurity guidance for the healthcare sector and to increase public outreach on cyber threats such as ransomware.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the senator also called on the White House to strengthen cybersecurity defenses for the U.S. healthcare system amid concerns of cyberattacks intended to steal COVID-19 treatment and vaccine research.

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Grace Dille
Grace Dille
Grace Dille is MeriTalk's Assistant Managing Editor covering the intersection of government and technology.
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