国会中的退休人数不断增加:一些人因“混乱”而感到沮丧,另一些人则寻求新的职业——或者休息
作者:斯科特·麦克法兰
2023 年 11 月 27 日 / 晚上 8:24 美国东部时间 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
俄勒冈州民主党众议员厄尔·布卢梅瑙尔 (Earl Blumenauer) 是本届任期结束时离开国会的近 40 名议员之一。
布鲁梅瑙尔告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻:“我深深尊重两党的一些同事,但与他们合作越来越困难。” “房子里无休无止的混乱确实消耗了大部分氧气。”
气候活动人士呼吁停止化石燃料补贴
文件:2021 年 6 月 29 日,俄勒冈州众议员厄尔·布卢梅瑙尔 (Earl Blumenauer) 在华盛顿特区美国国会大厦附近的“终结化石燃料”集会上发表讲话。 由我们的革命组织的示威者呼吁国会采取行动终止化石燃料补贴。
“众议院的功能失调是我决定离开的部分原因,”科罗拉多州共和党众议员肯·巴克说。 “人们经常撒谎。当你揭穿谎言时,你就是坏人。我觉得我在国会之外比在国会内部能做更多的事情。”
61 岁的马里兰州众议员、民主党人约翰·萨班斯 (John Sarbanes) 表示:“我正处于人生的这个阶段,无论是年龄还是职业生涯,如果我还有新的篇章,我想要去探索它。” 在众议院忙碌的一周之前,哥伦比亚广播公司通过电话新闻报道。 萨班斯宣布他在众议院的第九个任期将是他的最后一个任期。
随着国会艰难地度过了一年的僵局、摊牌、尖刻和众议院议长首次被罢黜,一波现任议员宣布他们将放弃在国会山的职业生涯。
一些众议院议员和工作人员表示,大量退休人员令人不安,因为退休人员中包括被同行视为国会主力的资深议员。
房屋能源和商业加价
文件:左起,佛罗里达州民主党众议员达伦·索托 (Darren Soto)、加利福尼亚州民主党众议员安娜·埃舒 (Anna Eshoo) 和特拉华州民主党众议员丽莎·布伦特·罗切斯特 (Lisa Blunt Rochester) 于 7 月 21 日星期二在雷伯恩大厦 (Rayburn Building) 参加众议院能源和商业委员会加价活动。 2021 年。
汤姆·威廉姆斯/CQ-ROLL CALL, INC 通过盖蒂图片社
加利福尼亚州民主党众议员安娜·埃舒 (Anna Eshoo) 已在众议院任职 32 年,她在国会生涯中发起了 60 多项立法并最终成为法律,她即将退休。
埃修在加利福尼亚州的办公室研究室接受采访时告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻,“我从来没有逃避过任何事情。我没有逃离国会。我将从国会退休。我是否担心众议院的状态? 代表们参加了?我当然参加了。我担心这个国家。”
但当被问及第 118 届国会的毒性是否促使她退休时,埃修回答说:“没有。这不是我的理由。我认为是时候了。”
这类退休人员还包括得克萨斯州共和党众议员凯·格兰杰(Kay Granger),他是权力很大的众议院拨款委员会的主席。 华盛顿州民主党众议员德里克·基尔默(Derek Kilmer)是西雅图地区的国会议员,他最近帮助制定了一项实现国会现代化的计划和报告,旨在提供“改善和加强众议院的建议”。
众议员布拉德·温斯特鲁普 (Brad Wenstrup) 是俄亥俄州共和党人,担任调查 COVID-19 大流行的小组主席,他也是一名退伍军人,曾帮助应对和照顾在 2017 年弗吉尼亚州枪击事件中受伤的众议院同事。
即将离任的议员名单中还包括历来弥合分歧并提供关键选票的中间派参议员,其中包括犹他州共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼和西弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦。
庞大的数字可能会导致国会失去一些机构记忆以及帮助达成交易和两党立法的关系。
为国会办公室提供咨询服务的非营利组织国会管理基金会表示,国会的经验已经在减少。 基金会主席布拉德·菲奇 (Brad Fitch) 告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻 (CBS News),“在 2023 年国会开始时,大约一半的众议院议员拥有四年或更少的工作经验。”
“无论我们谈论的是足球教练、神经外科医生还是国会议员,经验都很重要,”菲奇说。 “国会难以履行对美国公众的基本责任的原因之一是,他们中的许多人仍在学习如何做好自己的工作。”
这些退休人员还包括那些寻求更高职位或其他职位的人,其中包括弗吉尼亚州民主党众议员阿比盖尔·斯潘伯格(Abigail Spanberger),她是中间派交易撮合者,她于2018年将弗吉尼亚州的红区变成了蓝区。斯潘伯格已宣布她将在2025年竞选该州州长。
西弗吉尼亚州共和党众议员亚历克斯·穆尼(Alex Mooney)即将离开一年前他在一场痛苦而备受瞩目的党内初选后赢得的席位,转而寻求共和党提名,争夺曼钦(Manchin)空出的西弗吉尼亚州参议院席位。
离职可能会扩散。 布卢梅瑙尔表示,他不太愿意竞选连任,因为与他合作制定立法的许多共和党人都是共和党人。
特别提到温斯特鲁普的退休。
埃修的离职在民主党人中引起了反响。 前众议院议长南希·佩洛西在一份声明中告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻,“女议员埃修一直是美国国会的巨人。三十年来,她不仅出色地代表了她认为最好的选区,而且代表了我们的选区。” 州和我们的国家。看到我们的价值观和我们的立法之间的联系。”
国会的毒性和 2021 年 1 月 6 日国会大厦袭击事件的后果继续产生影响。
“人们经常撒谎,”巴克说。 “谎称选举被窃取,谎称 1 月 6 日是在无人引导的情况下参观国会大厦,谎称 1 月 6 日被告是政治犯。”
一些人的退休可能会对各党赢得众议院多数席位的能力产生影响。 预计斯潘伯格的席位将成为共和党的重点争夺目标。
代表摇摆州蓝领地区的密歇根州民主党众议员丹·基尔迪在退休声明中代表该党表达了乐观态度。 他表示,他相信民主党明年将赢得弗林特地区的席位。
曼钦的退休引发了人们对他可能考虑第三方竞选白宫的猜测,从而危及拜登总统的连任前景。 本月早些时候,曼钦在接受哥伦比亚广播公司晚间新闻主播兼总编辑诺拉·奥唐纳采访时表达了对国会党派之争的失望。
“我得出的结论是,我们不会在华盛顿解决这个问题,”曼钦说。 “我们正在失去那个中间部分。我们正在失去你如何得出结论以通过我们通过的法案的核心。”
Retirements mount in Congress: Some are frustrated by "chaos," and others seek new careers — or rest
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-retirement-numbers-growing-frustrated-chaos/
BY SCOTT MACFARLANE
Congressman Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, is one of nearly 40 lawmakers leaving Congress at the end of this term.
"I deeply respect some of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but it's harder and harder to work with them," Blumenauer told CBS News. "The unending chaos in the House really takes up most of the oxygen."
"The dysfunction in the House is part of the reason why I've decided to leave," said GOP Rep. Ken Buck, of Colorado. "People are lying a lot. And when you call out the lies, you're the bad guy. I feel like I can do more outside of Congress than inside of Congress."
"I'm at that point of my life, age-wise and career-wise, where if I have one more chapter, I want to go explore it," 61-year-old Maryland Rep. John Sarbanes, a Democrat, told CBS News by phone ahead of a busy week in the House. Sarbanes has announced his ninth term in the House will be his final one.
As Congress slogs through a year of stalemates, showdowns, acrimony and the first-ever ousting of a House speaker, a wave of incumbent lawmakers have announced they're walking away from their Capitol Hill careers.
The large number of retirements is troubling, said some House members and staffers, because the retirees include veteran lawmakers considered to be workhorses of Congress by their peers.
Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat in her 32nd year in the House, will retire after a congressional career in which she sponsored over 60 pieces of legislation that became law.
In an interview from her office study in California, Eshoo told CBS News, "I've never run away from anything. I'm not fleeing the Congress. I'm retiring from Congress. Do I worry about the state that the House of Representatives is in? I certainly do. I worry about the country."
But when pressed on whether the toxicity of the 118th Congress persuaded her to retire, Eshoo replied, "Not really. That's not my reason. I think it's time."
This class of retirees also includes Rep. Kay Granger, the Texas Republican who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee. And Rep. Derek Kilmer, Democrat of Washington, the Seattle-area congressman who recently helped develop a plan and report to modernize Congress, which sought to offer "recommendations for improving and strengthening the House."
Rep. Brad Wenstrup is an Ohio Republican who chairs a panel investigating the COVID-19 pandemic, and he's also a military veteran who helped respond and care for a House colleague wounded in a 2017 shooting spree in Virginia.
The list of departing lawmakers also includes centrist senators who have a history of bridging gaps and providing pivotal votes, including Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, and Sen. Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia.
The sheer numbers threaten to bleed Congress of some its institutional memory and the relationships that helped forge deals and bipartisan legislation.
The Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit which provides consulting for congressional offices, said experience is already dwindling in Congress. Foundation president Brad Fitch told CBS News, "At the start of this Congress in 2023 about half of the House of Representatives had four years or less of experience in their jobs."
"Experience matters, whether we talking about football coaches, neurosurgeons or members of Congress," Fitch said. "One of the reasons why Congress is having difficulty fulfilling it's basic responsibilities to the American public is because many of them are still learning how to do their jobs."
The retirees also include those seeking higher or different offices, including Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat and centrist dealmaker who turned a red district to blue in Virginia in 2018. Spanberger has announced she's running for governor of her state in 2025.
West Virginia GOP Rep. Alex Mooney is departing a seat he won after an agonizing and high-profile intraparty primary just a year ago, to pursue the Republican nomination for the West Virginia Senate seat Manchin is vacating.
The departures could metastasize. Blumenauer said he was less inclined to run for reelection because so many of the Republicans with whom he partners on legislation are leaving, citing in particular Wenstrup's retirement.
Eshoo's departure has reverberated among Democrats. In a statement, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CBS News, "Congresswoman Eshoo has been a giant in the Congress of the United States. For three decades, she has magnificently represented not only her district, which she considers the best, but also our state and our country. Seeing the connection between our values and our legislation."
The toxicity of the Congress and the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol continue to have an impact.
"People are lying a lot," Buck said. "Lying about the election being stolen, about Jan. 6 being an unguided tour of the Capitol, about the Jan. 6 defendants being political prisoners."
Some of the retirements could have an impact on each party's ability to win a majority in the House. Spanberger's seat is expected to be heavily targeted by Republicans.
In his retirement announcement, Rep. Dan Kildee, Democrat of Michigan, who represents a blue-collar area in a swing state, expressed optimism on behalf of his party. He said he is confident a Democrat will win his seat in the Flint area next year.
Manchin's retirement has fueled speculation that he might consider a third-party run for the White House, endangering the reelection prospects of President Biden. Speaking earlier this month with CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell, Manchin expressed frustration with partisanship in Congress.
"I've come to the conclusion we're not going to fix it here in Washington," Manchin said. "We're losing that middle. We're losing the core of how you come you come to conclusions to pass the bills that we pass."
This page lists the incumbent members of the 117th U.S. Congress who did not run for re-election in the 2022 congressional elections for both U.S. Senate and U.S. House.
Fifty-five members of Congress—six members of the U.S. Senate and 49 members of the U.S. House— announced they would not seek re-election in 2022. Of those, 38 members—six senators and 32 representatives—announced their retirement. Five retiring Senate members were Republicans and one was a Democrat, and of the retiring House members, 22 were Democrats and 10 were Republicans.
Seventeen U.S. House members ran for other offices:
No U.S. Senate members ran for other offices.
Between January 2011 and February 2022, a total of 295 incumbents retired from the U.S. House and Senate. Out of every election cycle from 2012 to 2020, the 2018 cycle had the highest number of retirements at 55, and the 2020 cycle had the fewest with 40 announcements. From 2011 to 2021, there were an average of 26 announcements per year.
Retired from public office, 2022 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Party | State | Date announced | |||
Richard Burr | Republican | North Carolina | July 20, 2016[1] | |||
Pat Toomey | Republican | Pennsylvania | Oct. 5, 2020[2] | |||
Rob Portman | Republican | Ohio | Jan. 25, 2021[3] | |||
Richard Shelby | Republican | Alabama | Feb. 8, 2021[4] | |||
Roy Blunt | Republican | Missouri | March 8, 2021[5] | |||
Patrick Leahy | Democratic | Vermont | November 15, 2021[6] |
Forty-nine representatives did not seek re-election to their U.S. House seats (not including those who left office early):
Retired from public office, 2022 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Party | State | Date announced | |||
Christopher Jacobs | Republican | New York | June 3, 2022[7] | |||
Bob Gibbs | Republican | Ohio | April 6, 2022[8] | |||
Fred Upton | Republican | Michigan | April 5, 2022[9] | |||
Van Taylor | Republican | Texas | March 2, 2022[10] | |||
Ted Deutch | Democratic | Florida | February 28, 2022[11] | |||
Fred Keller | Republican | Pennsylvania | February 28, 2022[12] | |||
Kathleen Rice | Democratic | New York | February 15, 2022[13] | |||
Jim Cooper | Democratic | Tennessee | January 25, 2022[14] | |||
Jerry McNerney | Democratic | California | January 18, 2022[15] | |||
Jim Langevin | Democratic | Rhode Island | January 18, 2022[16] | |||
John Katko | Republican | New York | January 14, 2022[17] | |||
Trey Hollingsworth | Republican | Indiana | January 12, 2022[18] | |||
Ed Perlmutter | Democratic | Colorado | January 10, 2022[19] | |||
Brenda Lawrence | Democratic | Michigan | January 4, 2022[20] | |||
Bobby Rush | Democratic | Illinois | January 3, 2022[21] | |||
Albio Sires | Democratic | New Jersey | December 21, 2021[22] | |||
Lucille Roybal-Allard | Democratic | California | December 21, 2021[23] | |||
Stephanie Murphy | Democratic | Florida | December 20, 2021[24] | |||
Alan Lowenthal | Democratic | California | December 16, 2021[25] | |||
Peter DeFazio | Democratic | Oregon | December 1, 2021[26] | |||
G.K. Butterfield | Democratic | North Carolina | November 19, 2021[27] | |||
Jackie Speier | Democratic | California | November 16, 2021[28] | |||
Adam Kinzinger | Republican | Illinois | October 29, 2021[29] | |||
Michael Doyle | Democratic | Pennsylvania | October 18, 2021[30] | |||
David Price | Democratic | North Carolina | October 18, 2021[31] | |||
John Yarmuth | Democratic | Kentucky | October 12, 2021[32] | |||
Anthony Gonzalez | Republican | Ohio | September 16, 2021[33] | |||
Ron Kind | Democratic | Wisconsin | August 10, 2021[34] | |||
Cheri Bustos | Democratic | Illinois | April 30, 2021[35] | |||
Kevin Brady | Republican | Texas | April 14, 2021[36] | |||
Ann Kirkpatrick | Democratic | Arizona | March 12, 2021[37] | |||
Eddie Bernice Johnson | Democratic | Texas | October 9, 2019[38] |
Ran for Senate, 2022 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Party | Seat | Date announced | |||
Markwayne Mullin | Republican | Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District | February 26, 2022[39] | |||
Peter Welch | Democratic | Vermont's At-Large Congressional District | November 22, 2021[40] | |||
Conor Lamb | Democratic | Pennsylvania's 17th | August 6, 2021[41] | |||
Billy Long | Republican | Missouri's 7th | August 3, 2021[42] | |||
Vicky Hartzler | Republican | Missouri's 4th | June 10, 2021[43] | |||
Val Demings | Democratic | Florida's 10th | June 9, 2021[44] | |||
Ted Budd | Republican | North Carolina's 13th | April 28, 2021[45] | |||
Tim Ryan | Democratic | Ohio's 13th | April 26, 2021[46] | |||
Mo Brooks | Republican | Alabama's 5th | March 22, 2021[47] |
Ran for governor, 2022 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Party | Seat | Date announced | |||
Kai Kahele | Democratic | Hawaii's 2nd | May 7, 2022[48] | |||
Tom Suozzi | Democratic | New York's 3rd | November 29, 2021[49] | |||
Charlie Crist | Democratic | Florida's 13th | May 4, 2021[50] | |||
Lee Zeldin | Republican | New York's 1st | April 8, 2021[51][52] |
Ran for another office, 2022 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Party | Seat | Date announced | |||
Louie Gohmert | Republican | Texas' 1st | November 22, 2021[53] | |||
Anthony G. Brown | Democratic | Maryland's 4th | October 25, 2021[54] | |||
Karen Bass | Democratic | California's 37th | September 27, 2021[55] | |||
Jody Hice | Republican | Georgia's 10th | March 22, 2021[56] |
Note: The individuals in the list below were not included in the number of congressional retirements above. In most cases, replacements were sworn in before the 2022 elections.[57]
The following table includes figures on Democratic and Republican members of Congress who either left office during their term or announced that they would not seek re-election for each election year since 2012.
[hide]Outgoing members of Congress, 2012-2020 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Chamber | Democrats not seeking re-election | Republicans not seeking re-election | Total not seeking re-election | Democrats leaving office early | Republicans leaving office early | Total leaving office early |
2020 | |||||||
U.S. Senate | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
U.S. House | 9 | 26 | 36[75] | 3 | 8 | 11 | |
Total | 10 | 29 | 40 | 3 | 9 | 12 | |
2018 | |||||||
U.S. Senate | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
U.S. House | 18 | 34 | 52 | 3 | 14 | 17 | |
Total | 18 | 37 | 55 | 4 | 16 | 20 | |
2016 | |||||||
U.S. Senate | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
U.S. House | 16 | 24 | 40 | 2 | 5 | 7 | |
Total | 19 | 26 | 45 | 2 | 5 | 7 | |
2014 | |||||||
U.S. Senate | 5 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
U.S. House | 16 | 25 | 41 | 3 | 6 | 9 | |
Total | 21 | 27 | 48 | 6 | 8 | 14 | |
2012 | |||||||
U.S. Senate | 6 | 3 | 10[76] | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
U.S. House | 23 | 20 | 43 | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
Total | 29 | 23 | 53 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
The following chart compares the number of Democrats and Republicans in Congress who did not seek re-election between 2012 and 2020.
The number of retirements in each party as a percentage of the party's total number of Congressional members illustrates the amount of turnover happening within a party in a given election cycle. The table below shows Congressional retirements as a percentage of each party's total caucus members immediately following the previous election.
Retirements as percent of Democrat and Republican caucus | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cycle | Total retiring incumbents | Retiring Democrats | Retiring Democrats as percentage of caucus | Retiring Republicans | Retiring Republicans as percentage of caucus |
2022 | 55 | 32 | 11.85% | 23 | 8.75% |
2020 | 40 | 10 | 3.57% | 29 | 11.46% |
2018 | 55 | 18 | 7.44% | 37 | 12.63% |
2016 | 45 | 19 | 8.12% | 26 | 8.64% |
2014 | 48 | 21 | 8.47% | 27 | 9.41% |
Retirements in districts with a narrow margin of victory (MOV) can indicate a potentially competitive election in the next cycle. Retirements from seats with a margin of victory of less than 10 percentage points in each election cycle included:
Retirements in districts that had a MOV of 10 percentage points or less in the prior cycle, 2014-2022 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Cycle | Total retiring incumbents | Retiring incumbents with MOV of <10% | Retiring Democrats with MOV of <10% | Retiring Republicans with MOV of <10% |
2022 | 55 | 10 | 7 | 3 |
2020 | 40 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
2018 | 55 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
2016 | 45 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
2014 | 48 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
Between January 2011 and November 2023, Ballotpedia tracked 338 announcements from members of the U.S. House and Senate who announced they would not run for re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 59. Thirty-nine of those took place during election years and 20 during odd-number years. The fewest announcements took place in June at 12—nine during off years and three during election years.
Hover over the bars in the chart below to see the number of even- and odd-year announcements by month.
November had the second-highest total announcements at 46. Five November announcements occurred during an election year and 41 occurred during an off year.
August saw the second-fewest announcements after June at 15. All but one occurred during off years.
The following table shows the number of members who announced they would not run for re-election by month and by year. Click on a month to sort the table in ascending or descending order by that month.
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