A wave of high-profile retirements has left House Republicans reeling and shocked as members decide to walk away instead of worship Trump.
Why Are So Many House Republicans Retiring?
House Republicans are retiring because they are tired of the dysfunction in their conference, which is being driven by factions that are more committed to helping Donald Trump win in 2024 than governing.
CNN reported that the 23 and counting House Republican retirements have left some shocked and rattled. The dysfunction in the majority is causing the serious Republicans who want to govern to be sick of the whole thing and walk away.
Beneath the surface is Donald Trump.
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Meanwhile, there is also some private wariness among Republicans as Trump marches his way toward the GOP presidential nomination, and they face pressure to fall in line.
“Some of them say, ‘I don’t want to have to endorse him, I don’t want to have to serve under him,’” one GOP lawmaker told CNN when asked about the retirements. “That’s something else that is weighing in a lot of the private conversations I’m having.”
There are incumbent Republicans who would rather leave than have to endorse Trump and potentially serve during another Trump presidency.
Trump Is Running The House
The basic issue has been that Donald Trump is running the House majority. Kevin McCarthy wasn’t the speaker. Neither is Mike Johnson. The person calling the shots for the majority is former president Trump. Donald Trump wasn’t elected speaker, but Republicans are finding that they can’t do their jobs because what Trump wants comes first.
The heart of the dysfunction can be defined as there being two camps within the House Republican conference. Those who don’t want to govern and just want to burn everything down, and those who are attempting to govern.
The burn-it-all-down crowd is Trump loyalists who want to shut down everything until after the election. These people are more committed to helping Trump than helping the country.
The slim Republican majority has empowered MAGAs in the House. By not getting their red wave in 2022, the House was put into MAGA’s hands.
Donald Trump failed to govern as president, and his brand of dysfunction has paralyzed the House.
Things have gotten so bad that high-ranking GOP members and committee chairs would rather walk away than deal with it any longer.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
