House Republicans flee Congress in record numbers amid growing dysfunction

An unprecedented number of House Republicans are opting to retire or pursue other offices, complicating Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) bid to fend off a potential blue wave in the 2026 midterms and preserve his razor-thin majority.

So far, 36 House Republicans — including the most recent, Rep. Sam Graves (Mo.) — have announced they will leave their seat at the end of their term, pointing to legislative gridlock, family commitments or a wish to make room for the next generation of leaders.

That total exceeds the record set in the 2018 midterm cycle, when 34 House Republicans chose not to run for reelection and Democrats regained control of the lower chamber under President Trump’s first term.

By comparison, 21 House Democrats are not seeking reelection this year.

But the number is only likely to grow in the weeks ahead, as Republicans reassess their roles in Washington amid a Trump 2.0 era and the expectation that the president’s party historically faces losses in a midterm year. 

Graves said in a statement Friday that his decision to leave his seat wasn’t an easy one, but the “right one.”

“I believe in making room for the next generation. It’s time to pass the torch and allow a new guard of conservative leaders to step forward and chart a path forward for Missourians,” he said, adding that public service “isn’t easy.”

He joins a roster of Republicans across the ideological spectrum who have also called it quits in Congress, including high-profile conservatives such as Texas Reps. Chip Roy, Jodey Arrington, and Michael McCaul, as well as battle-tested moderates such as Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), who has repeatedly run for reelection and won in a competitive district.   

Some members have expressed growing frustration with the entrenched political polarization and stalled pace of congressional action.

Bacon told The Hill in January that, “I just was ready for something new. I know my wife was. So, that’s the major reason. I think the more minor reasons are … I’ll say that the dysfunction isn’t attractive.”

“I think, two, it’s hard — you got to be a really master tactician to run against the left and at the same time disagree with the president on a lot of things. And I’ve done it. I’ve done it since 2020, and I don’t know, to me, I’m just, I just knew it was time for a change,” he added.

Of the 36 House Republicans departing Congress, 10 are running for governor: Reps. David Schweikert (Ariz.), Tom Tiffany (Wis.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Dusty Johnson (S.D.), Randy Feenstra (Iowa), John James (Mich.), John Rose (Tenn.), Byron Donalds (Fla.) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.). Roy, meanwhile, is running for attorney general in Texas.

Norman, who’s pursuing a gubernatorial bid in South Carolina, previously said he feels he can get more done in the governor’s mansion than in Congress.

“I can accomplish far more on a national level being governor,” Norman said. “You know, you got what, 50 governors? You got 435 members of Congress, 100 Senators, 535. So my voice will be heard far greater as a CEO of South Carolina.”

Other exiting House members are running for the Senate — and haven’t given up completely on Congress.

Reps. Kevin Hern (Okla.), Julia Letlow (La.), Harriet Hageman (Wyo.), Barry Moore (Ala.), Mike Collins (Ga.), Earl Carter (Ga.), Andy Barr (Ky.) and Ashley Hinson (Iowa) are on that list. Rep. Wesley Hunt (Texas) ran and lost in the Texas Senate GOP primary. 

Hern is running for Markwayne Mullin’s seat, after Mullin was tapped to be the new Homeland Security secretary. Hern said in a video announcing his campaign, “The American dream is under threat by the radical left and RINO [Republican in name only] Republicans who oppose President Trump’s America First agenda and want to turn the United States into a third world country.”

“That’s why I’m running for U.S. Senate: to ensure President Trump has a loyal ally,” Hern said.

Separately, four Republicans resigned from their seat early this year, while one died. 

But Johnson faces a serious challenge ahead with all these departures, as he looks to keep the seats that Republicans won in 2024, flip more this election cycle and stay on as Speaker in the last two years of Trump’s term.

He’s also been grappling with attendance issues, especially as members who are retiring or seeking other offices either feel less motivated to show up and vote or juggle campaigning with their legislative responsibilities.

GOP leaders held a war powers vote in January open for more than an hour until Hunt — who at the time was campaigning for Texas Senate and whom Johnson had chided for being absent on a tricky vote earlier in the day — arrived to cast a vote. 

Michael Romano, a Shenandoah University political science professor who has studied congressional retirements, previously said that some lawmakers feel they “hit a kind of wall” on Capitol Hill.

“Either they’ve done what they feel like they needed to do in Washington, or they are kind of running into walls of … not being able to do the things that they wanted to do in Washington anymore,” Romano said. “Either out of frustration or out of a desire to maybe try and come at the political game a little bit from a different angle, Congress might not be for them anymore.”

Julia Mueller contributed. 

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