In his first interview since announcing his surprise retirement, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) told The Nevada Independent neither concerns about politics nor his health influenced his decision to leave Congress at the end of his term. 

“Everybody’s on a different trajectory, but it’s like, ‘Hey, 15 years feels like a pretty good run,’” he said on Friday. “We haven’t embarrassed anybody. We haven’t, you know, we’ve delivered good, solid work and treated everybody with respect. And it’s like, that feels complete.’”

Amodei said he felt his electoral prospects were good and that he was pleased with the Republican agenda on the economy and the border. He acknowledged that President Donald  Trump’s administration’s immigration enforcement is not playing well politically right now but that it’s not as bad as critics might say. 

“It’s not like there was some new threat on the horizon that we hadn’t dealt with successfully,” he said. 

Amodei said concerns about Republicans losing the House in 2026 did not shape his decision, since “nobody knows” what will happen. He is the latest of nearly three dozen House members to hang up their hats ahead of the midterms. 

He also dismissed speculation he was retiring over health concerns.

“Talk about age discrimination, because I’m 67, it’s like, ‘Is your health OK?’” he said. “You almost want to [say] … ‘You know, actually, I’m on an oxygen thing right now, it’s going to run out in 10 minutes and I’ll probably be dead in 11 minutes.’”

Amodei was treated for cancer in 2021. He reaffirmed Friday that it was cured surgically. 

“I’m not presently being treated for anything or whatever,” he said. “I mean, I’m taking my old guy pills for, you know, fish oil and blood pressure meds and all that, but that’s all normal stuff.” 

The congressman has recently played a key role in Washington as chair of the House subcommittee that handles appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a role he took on in 2024. 

“I don’t think there’s probably any of my other 11 cardinals are like, ‘Hey, I’d really like to have your subcommittee,’” Amodei said. “Just this year, we’ve climbed a pretty steep hill twice, and we’re gonna have to make a third climb with it. We take pride in that.”

He added: “I tell all the other 11, ‘Well, you pansies have all the easy stuff. We’re the folks that go into the mouth of the lion and come out still breathing again and haven’t lost much blood.’”

‘I didn’t say anything to anybody’

Amodei’s announcement stunned Nevada’s political world after Trump endorsed the congressman and he confirmed in August and December that he planned to run for re-election. 

“It’s like, well, of course, you’re running again,” he said Friday. “Because if you say you’re not, then immediately, it’s a feeding frenzy. We kept all the doors open, kept raising money, stuff like that. But when it gets closer and closer to sign ups, it’s like, OK.”

Amodei raised $116,000 in the last quarter of 2025 and had more cash on hand than ever before going into the election year. He said he made the decision to retire a few weeks ago but didn’t tell anyone. 

“The reason it came as kind of a shock is I didn’t say anything to anybody,” he said. “And the reason I didn’t is I didn’t want to put any of my staff or people close to me in a position where somebody’s like, ‘Hey, there’s a rumor out there.’ … There’s no secrets in this business.”

He drafted his retirement statement himself — “No AI for this old guy” — and finally informed his staff on Friday morning. He said he decided to time the announcement so potential successors would have enough time to consider running for the seat ahead of the state’s filing deadline in March. 

“We’re going to be fully involved however we think we can help within what the rules are, to be riding for our brand,” he said.

Amodei said he hadn’t heard from any potential candidates on Friday morning and was unlikely to make an endorsement in the upcoming Republican primary.

“I’m pretty much an after-the-primary kind of guy,” he said. “If we make an exception here or there, it would be because there was some kind of strange circumstance, or where you’re trying to avoid a weird outcome.”

He also said he was eager to watch what happens on the other side of the aisle.

“I think there’s some Democrats that are real Nevada Democrats, not just recently transitioned from San Francisco or from being an independent,” he said. “Let’s see if there’s any strong, real Nevada Democrats that are interested.”

Venture capitalist Greg Kidd, who took on Amodei as an independent last year, is running again as a Democrat in 2026. Amodei said he’d be keeping an eye on Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve, a termed-out independent who nonetheless has endorsed Democratic presidential candidates in recent election cycles.

A final crack at public lands

He still has plenty to do during his final months in Congress. The two parties are locked in a fight over DHS funding, with a continuing resolution set to expire next Friday. 

“I’d love to be wrong, they’re gonna need another [continuing resolution] or a shutdown, because they need to have the bill out … by midnight Sunday,” he said. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen. … If they’re talking about, ‘Oh, you gotta get a warrant for every arrest.’ I mean, that dog isn’t gonna hunt.”

He’s working on legislation to help sheepherders deal with tariffs. He has scheduled a meeting with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) on Monday to discuss putting a Nevada lands bill on the floor. 

Amodei said he didn’t want to “spike the ball” and it would be some time before he had a chance to fully reflect on his time in Congress. But his efforts on public lands are likely to be part of his legacy.

“I’m proud of the lands bill stuff we did,” he said. “Most of it was actually [late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)] when he was in the Senate. We had a pretty good, pretty good working relationship with Sen. Reid and his folks.”

Amodei said he hasn’t made particular plans for his time after Congress, besides living in one place again — back home in Carson City. 

“It’s a tremendous luxury in this business to be able to pick when you leave instead of being shown the door,” he said.