There’s been a lot of buzz in Washington lately about the “exodus” of members of Congress in the 2026 midterm-election cycle. So far, 51 U.S. House members (30 Republicans and 21 Democrats), and nine U.S. senators (five Republicans and four Democrats) out of 35 up for reelection, are not running this year. Another three House members are running against one another after mid-decade redistricting measures. According to ABC, it’s the most combined House and Senate retirements in the 21st century and well over average generally. And the numbers for the House could go higher still, given pending partisan gerrymanders in Florida and Virginia.

From 40,000 feet, you might think the retirements are concentrated among members of Congress who are in danger of losing their seats in November. And there are some retirees that fit this description: Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Gary Peters of Michigan, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire were theoretically vulnerable, and according to Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, eight of the 54 open House seats are in very competitive districts. But that leaves 46 that aren’t. The single-largest factor in House retirements is the number of people who are running for other offices: 15 House members (eight Republicans, seven Democrats) are running for the Senate, and another 11 (ten Republicans and one Democrat) are running for governor. One more Republican (Chip Roy of Texas) is running for attorney general.

Of the other retirees, the most inscrutable are among Republicans in safe seats who aren’t too old to serve and would seem to be reaching the peak of their careers. Those include two of the most recently announced retirements: Nevada congressman Mark Amodei and Georgia congressman Barry Loudermilk. Amodei’s stated rationale for leaving Congress was that “15 years seems like a pretty good run.” Loudermilk was even more opaque, retreating behind the standard “more time with my family” excuse.

Anyone actually familiar with the daily grind of congressional service, especially in the House, can tell you that in some cases members hang it up because the job sucks. Many, perhaps most, Americans believe people go into politics to get rich. Maybe congressional service is a milepost on the road to riches, but nobody’s getting rich while serving in the House unless they are breaking the law, given restrictions on outside income and conflict-of-interest rules. But you do have to maintain two residences (unless you are one of the dozens of members who sleep on cots or sofas in their offices) and struggle with balancing the need for a pristine House attendance record (absences go right into the oppo-research files of your enemies) and being very visible back home (not doing so will get you a primary- or general-election opponent quicker than anything else). Anyone with a vaguely competitive district is raising money and running for reelection every day.And even in safe seats, you have to beware a primary opponent, particularly if you are a Republican who has somehow forgotten to bow down to Donald Trump once after breakfast and twice before supper.

Speaking of Trump: Service in Congress during his second presidency has been especially frustrating to members from both parties. Democrats have no real power beyond the ability to slow down legislation with parliamentary tricks and to shut down government agencies periodically by filibustering spending bills. Most major legislation was packaged into the filibusterproof One Big Beautiful Act, in which Democrats had zero input. But even Republicans are frustrated by the constant pressure to yield ancient congressional prerogatives to Trump’s relentless drive for expanded presidential powers. And even House Republicans in safe seats understand the high odds that Democrats will flip control of the chamber in November. Bad as it is to be in the House majority in the Trump era, it would be a major demotion into deeper irrelevancy to be in the House minority while remaining slaves to the 47th president.

All in all, it’s a terrible job that doesn’t deserve or earn much respect. At the end of 2025, Gallup pegged Congress’s job-approval ratio at 17 percent positive and 80 percent negative. Congressional job approval hasn’t been as high as 40 percent since 2004.

I once worked for a U.S. senator who held an absolutely safe seat and had considerable seniority — but who abruptly retired at the relatively young age of 58. Asked why he was hanging it up, he said he figured his choices were to get out in time to do something else of value or “stay here till I die.” It should not be surprising when anyone decides against making Congress a graveyard, particularly right now, when the institution’s power is at a historically low ebb.

Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.

© Daily Intelligencer