Number of members of Congress retiring approaches century-long record as Trump-influenced midterms loom

The number of members of Congress opting not to seek re-election at this year’s midterms has reached a historically high level and is on course to hit a century-long record, according to a report.

The recent announcements by Republican congressmen Barry Loudermilk and Mark Amodei that they are stepping down have taken the total number of departing members of the House of Representatives to 51.

2026 already has the third-highest number of election-year exits from the chamber since 1930, behind only the losses of 52 representatives in 2018 and 65 in 1992, according to NBC News, citing historical data from the Brookings Institution.

With nine senators also leaving office this cycle, the total number of members of Congress leaving Capitol Hill rises to 60, making it the most of any election year of the 21st century.

Of that total, 30 of those leaving the House are Republicans and 21 Democrats, while five Republicans and four Democrats will move on from the Senate.

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Familiar faces stepping aside include former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Tina Smith and Rep. Steny Hoyer, Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell, Joni Ernst and Tommy Tuberville and GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik and Don Bacon.

Lawmakers have offered a variety of reasons for standing down from their current positions, from seeking higher office to wanting to spend more time with their families.

Some have frankly admitted they no longer have the desire to handle the hostility and pressure of public office in the polarized political climate.

Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is leaving the House to run for an open Senate seat in his state, told NBC he believes many of his colleagues are walking away because of the “toxic partisan atmosphere” of the past decade.

“Over my 10 years here, I think Donald Trump has helped catalyze a real toxic partisan atmosphere,” Krishnamoorthi, 52, said.

“I have not known normal. And I think for anybody who came here expecting something different and then being served up this kind of toxic brew of partisanship and character attacks and name-calling is going to be severely disappointed.”

New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, who is retiring at 81, explicitly stated her objections to the president as her reason for departing Washington.

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“I still would have had Donald Trump as a president [if she had stood again and retained her seat],” she said. “And I tell you, that’s just sickening for me to have to deal with.”

Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden said the strain the job had taken on his family had become too great, noting in an op-ed for The Bangor Daily News that he and his loved ones had had to spend a recent Thanksgiving in a hotel after a threat was made against his home.

“As a father, I have to consider whether the good I can achieve outweighs everything my family endures as a result,” Golden wrote of his reason for walking away aged just 43.

Another Democrat, veteran New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, said witnessing former President Joe Biden visibly age in office had convinced him it was time to retire.

“Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that,” the 78-year-old told The New York Times in a recent interview.

Those on the Republican side of the aisle may also be reluctant to be part of the post-midterms landscape if their party suffers a disaster at the polls and loses its slender majorities in both chambers.

That scenario, should it come to pass, would likely see an invigorated Democratic Party mount renewed challenges to Trump’s authority, inviting an inevitable backlash from the president.