Members of Congress are heading for the exit, many citing dysfunction

Eleven are running for Senate. Five for state or local office. One for the President of the United States. Another resigns to become university president. And more and more people say they’re hanging up their hats in public office altogether.

More than three dozen members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election next year; some to pursue other offices and many others simply to leave Washington. Twelve announced their plans this month.

The wave of lawmakers The announcement that chambers and parties want to leave Congress comes at a time of breathtaking dysfunction on Capitol Hill, largely instigated by House Republicans. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives has ousted its leader in recent months, waged a weeks-long internal war to elect a new speaker and struggled to keep federal funding flowing. Right-wing members have rejected any spending legislation that could become law and have spoken out against their new leader for turning to Democrats, like his predecessor, to prevent a government shutdown.

The chaos has left Republicans increasingly concerned that they could lose their slim majority in the House of Representatives next year, a concern that typically leads to a wave of retirements from the party in power. But it’s not just Republican lawmakers who are choosing to leave; Democrats are also rushing for the exit, with retirements this year across all parties exceeding those of the past three election cycles.

And while most of the departures announced so far are not in competitive seats, given the slim margins of control in both chambers, the handful that offer Republicans or Democrats exit options could help determine who controls Congress in 2025.

“I like the work, but the politics made it no longer worth it,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Oregon, said in an interview. He announced his retirement last month after more than a quarter of a century in the House of Representatives.

“I think I can have more impact on some of the things that I care about if I don’t get bogged down for re-election,” Mr. Blumenauer said.

As lawmakers consider their future in Congress, they are weighing the personal sacrifice required to spend much of the year away from loved ones against the potential to legislate and advance their political and policy agendas . In this chaotic and bitter environment, many decide the trade-off is unattractive.

This session, said Representative Dan Kildee, Democrat of Michigan, was the “most unsatisfactory period of my time in Congress because of the absolute chaos and lack of any serious commitment to effective governance.”

Mr. Kildee, who served 10 years in Congress, said he decided not to seek re-election after recovering from a cancerous tumor he removed earlier this year. It made him rethink the time he was willing to spend in Washington, away from his family in Michigan.

The dysfunction of the majority in the House of Representatives only made the calculation easier.

“That has contributed to the sense of frustration,” he said, “and the sense that the sacrifice that we are all making to be in Washington and witness this chaos is quite difficult to make.”

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, Democrat of California, also announced that she would end her 30-year career in Congress at the end of her current term. One of her best friends in Congress, Representative Zoe Lofgren, also a California Democrat, told her hometown news site, San Jose Spotlight, that there was speculation that Ms. Eshoo would leave “because the majority we have now are crazy – and they are.” But Ms. Lofgren added that “that’s not the reason; she felt it was her time to do this.

Some Republicans in the House of Representatives have reached the limits of their frustration with their own party.

Rep. Ken Buck, Republican of Colorado, announced he would not seek re-election after his dissatisfaction and sense of disconnect with the Republican Party became too great. Mr. Buck, who voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the presidency, has denounced his party’s election denialism and the refusal of many members to condemn the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

“We have lost our way,” Mr. Buck told The New York Times this month. “We have an identity crisis in the Republican Party. If we can’t address the issue of election denial and continue down that path, we’re not going to have any credibility with the American people that we’re going to solve the problems.”

Representative Debbie Lesko, Republican of Arizona, said in a statement during the speakers’ fight last month that she would no longer participate.

“Right now, Washington DC is broken; It’s hard to get anything done,” she said.

The trend extends even to the most influential members of Congress; Rep. Kay Granger, the 80-year-old Texas Republican who chairs the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced she would retire at the end of her 14th term. Even if her party manages to retain control of the House of Representatives, Ms. Granger, the longest-serving Republican member of Congress, faced term limits that would have forced her out of the helm of the spending panel.

Few of the retirements so far seem likely to change the balance of power in Congress, where the vast majority of seats in the House of Representatives are safe for one party or the other. The major exceptions include Sen. Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, whose retirement will almost certainly mean Republicans can claim the state Senate seat and gain an edge to gain control of that chamber.

And Representative George Santos, Republican of New York, announced he would not seek re-election after a report by the House of Representatives Ethics Committee found “substantial evidence” that he had violated federal law. His departure will give Democrats a chance to win back the suburban Long Island seat he ceded to the Republican Party last year.

Many others are likely to be succeeded by members of their own party.

Representative Dean Phillips, Democrat of Minnesota, who last month announced a long-shot bid to challenge President Biden for his party’s nomination, said this week he would step aside to focus on that race. Mr. Biden won his district by 21 percentage points in 2020, according to data collected by Daily Kosmaking it almost certain that Democrats will retain the seat.

Rep. Bill Johnson, Republican of Ohio, said yes accepting a job as president of Youngstown State University. His seat will also almost certainly be held by the Republican Party; former President Donald J. Trump won the district in 2020 by more than 28 percentage points.

Some members who are not seeking re-election have decided they can bring about more change from outside Congress, where they won’t have to deal with the same infighting, gridlock and attention-seeking that Congress now often causes.

“I think I will have as much or more of an impact as a citizen as I would as a member of Congress, especially since I am involved in a pretty toxic political environment,” Mr. Blumenauer said.

Lawmakers typically do not choose to leave office if their party appears poised to regain power in the next election cycle, and Democrats see an opening to regain the majority in the House of Representatives next year. But Mr. Blumenauer, who would be a ranking member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee if his party won the House of Representatives, said he would prefer not to sacrifice time with his family.

“It’s tempting,” Mr. Blumenauer said. “I will continue to work on the things that matter to me, but with a renewed commitment to family, friends and fun.”

Robert Jimison reporting contributed.