Several Congress members are leaving office; professors say it’s primarily due to dysfunction in Congress

More than three dozen representatives are choosing not to seek reelection next year. Some are choosing other positions in office, while others are choosing to leave entirely. Photo collage by EMILY PARIS, Photo Editor

36 representatives — seven members of the U.S. Senate and 29 members of the U.S. House of Representatives — announced that they will be exiting Congress. Many representatives are choosing to pursue other offices, whereas others are opting to leave Congress for good.

The six senators who will not be seeking reelection in 2024 are Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Laphonza Butler (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) has announced that he will be running for governor of Indiana instead of continuing his term. 

Out of the 29 representatives who will not be seeking reelection, 11 are running for the Senate. Dean Phillips (D-MN) is leaving to run for president of the United States. And, many others have opted to retire from public office. 

This comes at a time of immense polarization that has been largely driven by the Republican caucus. House Republicans ousted their previous leader, Kevin McCarthy, for compromising with Democrats to avert a government shutdown. After weeks of chaos, the House of Representatives elected Mike Johnson as the House Speaker after a three-week vacancy.  

John Compton, a political science professor at Chapman, said that a hyper-polarized climate could be one of the many factors that are contributing to congressional resignations.

“(Congressmembers are) just very tired of the current hyperpolarized environment, and they don’t see a lot of point sitting in Congress because they’re not making any progress on the issues that are important to them,” Compton said. 

Compton also explained why he thinks Congressmembers are now choosing to resign from their posts.

“They’re not able to advance legislation that they want to advance, and of course, all the while, they’re being subjected to partisan bickering and attacks,” Compton continued. “So, I think in this case, it doesn’t seem to be driven by any expectation about what’s going to happen in the election, so much as it is just dissatisfaction with the current environment.”

Republicans aren’t the only ones who are exiting their seats. Democrats are also leaving, with retirements across both parties, outpacing those of the last three election cycles. 

Mac Bunyanunda, a political science lecturer at Chapman, also cited how dysfunction could be a reason behind some representatives choosing to discontinue their term.

“The other reason would probably be the dysfunction. I feel that’s probably the feature that most people would point to,” Bunyanunda said. “So, maybe representatives who are more bent on passing legislation that will help people rather than focusing on the ones that are most associated with the partisan fights, such as impeachment or something, maybe they are frustrated they can’t do anything. I think it’s more Democrats now who are quitting, so maybe it’s just the dysfunction of Congress.”

Bunyanunda also shared his thoughts on some of the ways to build a more unified Congress.

"(I say to) reduce the effects of gerrymandering, add seats to the House of Representatives, and broad, long-term demographic solutions where we invest more in non-coastal states to encourage and incentivize people and businesses to move into non-coastal states and spread a diversity of the population across the country."