Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) announced on Wednesday that he will be stepping down from a key leadership role in the House, in what could be a major shakeup for the Democratic Party's congressional leadership team.
Clyburn, 83, still intends to seek re-election to his congressional seat. However, he no longer intends to serve another term as Assistant House Democratic Leader.
"Events of the last several years have made it clear that the greatness of America is at peril, and the threats to our continued pursuit of ‘a more perfect Union’ are real," wrote Clyburn in his statement. “Yesterday’s results in New York and Pennsylvania, however, undergird my devotion to Alexis de Tocqueville’s admonition that ‘America’s greatness is not that she is more enlightened than any other nation, but that she has always been able to repair her faults.’ I am convinced that a significant majority of Americans are committed to de Tocqueville’s notion, and I feel compelled to expand my efforts to maintain America’s greatness and make that greatness accessible and affordable for all Americans."
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"That has always been my life’s mission and I am proud of my efforts in that regard," he continued.
Clyburn, who previously chaired the Congressional Black Caucus, was a key figure in President Joe Biden's election in 2020. His endorsement of Biden was a big factor in him sweeping the South Carolina primary, which laid the groundwork for a fractured field of rival candidates — many of whom led Biden in previous contests — to drop out of the race and consolidate behind him.
Under the Biden presidency, the Democratic Party sought to move South Carolina further up in the primary calendar, which proponents praised as being more representative of Democratic base electorate than the previous calendar, and critics alleged was a returned favor to Clyburn for the endorsement and an effort to make a challenge to Biden's re-nomination less likely.
