er, attending parties, and seeing each other at their children’s sporting events. The downside of the House mem-
ber who is always back in their home district on weekends and holidays is the loss of camaraderie and warm rela- tions with their colleagues and oppo- site numbers across the aisle. Ken Buck of Colorado, a Republican
who resigned last year, was increas- ingly frustrated with Congress. “I think this place is dysfunctional.
This place has just evolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people,” he told NPR. “I can only say the conditions in
Congress today are not what they once were,” Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., told Newsmax. “Media was far more limited and
less intrusive, social media didn’t exist, and members of both parties knew that they were there to work together for the good of the country,” the onetime House Appropriations Committee chairman said. “I don’t see that com- mon goal anymore.” With Republicans controlling both
Houses with wafer-thin majorities, members are kept firmly in line by party whips. One or two desertions from the
Republican ranks in the House would almost certainly doom legisla- tive packages favored by President Donald Trump. The vote on the president’s tax and
spending measure (One Big Beautiful Bill) in July is a case in point. It passed the House, with only two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Pennsylvania’s Rep. Brian Fitz- patrick — joining with every Democrat to vote no. Many Republicans who felt that the
bill did not go far enough on streamlin- ing Medicaid or making significant cuts in domestic spending came under pres- sure from Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, and thus gritted their teeth and voted for it. A similar scenario occurred in the
HOUSE INCUMBENTS RETIRING
Nancy Pelosi, California Michael McCaul, Texas Morgan Luttrell, Texas Jerrold Nadler, New York Lloyd Doggett, Texas Danny K. Davis, Illinois Don Bacon, Nebraska Dwight Evans, Pennsylvania Jan Schakowsky, Illinois
HOUSE MEMBERS WHO RESIGNED EARLY
Mark Green, Tennessee Gerald Connolly, Virginia Raúl Grijalva, Arizona Sylvester Turner, Texas Mike Waltz, Florida
POSSIBLE HOUSE RETIREMENTS
Tom McClintock, California Frederica Wilson, Florida Cory Mills, Florida Bill Huizenga, Michigan Jim Baird, Indiana Steny Hoyer, Maryland Jim Clyburn, South Carolina Henry Cuellar, Texas Harriet Hageman, Wyoming
HISTORICAL COMPARISON
The number of House members opting not to seek reelection has declined since 2022, when nearly 50 lawmakers stepped aside.
2026 2024 2022
Year Democrats 11
24 31
GOP 20 21 18
Total 31
45 49
SOURCE: Ballotpedia
Many cite congressional dysfunction and an inability to accomplish anything significant, as well as a lack of bipartisanship in Washington.
House vote on ceding power over glob- al tariffs to the president in September. Again, many on the GOP side who dis- sented from the measure “grinned and bore it” by voting for the proposal. Fear of a primary challenge in safe Republican districts, which is often fueled on social media, convinced dis- putatious GOP lawmakers to “switch rather than fight.” This is clearly not a comfortable
way to serve in the House, many histo- rians agree. David Pietrusza, author of six criti-
cally acclaimed books on presidential election years, observed that “many members of either side, but particu- larly the GOP side, are disappointed that they are not expected to exercise independent judgment but to vote, speak, and think in lockstep,” and thus they choose another option from re- election.
Political scientist Louis Perron,
author of the much-praised Beating the Incumbent and consultant on numer- ous campaigns worldwide, told us that “[f]or anybody who actually wants to legislate, the current times — in which politics is so polarized — are boring. “If you’re a Republican, you vote
yes. If you’re a Democrat, you vote no. If Democrats were to win the major- ity next year, it would be the other way around.” As one former Senate staffer turned Washington lobbyist told us, “The con- gressional budget process is completely broken, and everybody knows it.”
DECEMBER 2025 | NEWSMAX 41
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