Reports say Don Bacon will not run for another term in Congress

June 28, 2025, 11:30 a.m. ·

Rep. Don Bacon with U.S. Capitol in background
Republican Congressman Don Bacon. (Graphic by Brian Beach/Nebraska Public Media News)

Nebraska 2nd District Congressman Don Bacon appears to be headed for retirement.

Numerous media outlets reported that Bacon, who is in his fifth term representing the Omaha area, will likely announce Monday that he will not seek another term. A Bacon official declined to confirm whether that was true but also said Bacon does plan to hold a press conference on Monday..

Bacon, 61, had hinted back in March that he was considering retirement, saying in a statement released by his campaign that whether to run for a sixth term was a “family decision” that would be made during the summer.

He has been one of the few Republicans in Congress willing to criticize President Donald Trump, going so far as to introduce a resolution in April in the House of Representatives that would have required Congressional approval for tariffs. The Air Force veteran also criticized the president’s strategy toward the Russia-Ukraine war, saying in a “60 Minutes” interview earlier this year that it appeared Trump was trying to “appease” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And he was the first House Republican to call for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be fired after Hegseth shared plans for an airstrike on Yemen in a chat on the Signal messaging app and inadvertently included the editor of the Atlantic magazine on the message string.

Bacon is considered a moderate Republican, which helped him to continue to win reelection in a Congressional District nicknamed the “blue dot” because its electoral vote has gone to the Democratic candidate in three of the past four presidential elections.

But his elections have always been close, with Bacon never winning more than 51% of the vote. He also faced a Republican primary challenger last year in businessman Dan Frei, although he easily defeated him.

He was already facing at least two Democratic challengers in State Sen. John Cavanaugh and nonprofit leader and businesswoman Denise Powell.

Cavanaugh said in a statement that while he thanked Bacon “for his decades of service to this country and wish him well in his retirement, the people of Nebraska’s 2nd District know it’s time for a change.”

Powell called Bacon’s potential retirement “huge news” in a social media post.

“This is our chance to take back the House,” the post said.