Fifty-one House members and nine senators have decided not to run for re-election, the most retirements from Congress this century.
Some feel they’ve hit an appropriate retirement age. Others want to tend to their health or their families. Yet more are leaving because they don’t like the workplace.
Add it all together, and members of Congress are heading for the exit at a historically high rate ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with two more House Republicans adding themselves to a growing roster just last week.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., announced Wednesday that he was retiring from Congress, while Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., announced Friday that he wouldn’t run for re-election, either. Loudermilk said he wants “to spend more dedicated time with my family,” while Amodei said it was “the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch.”
The latest retirements mean 60 members of Congress have decided not to run for re-election this year — 51 House members and nine senators. It’s the most retirements from both chambers combined this century, according to historical data from the Brookings Institution’s Vital Statistics on Congress. That includes lawmakers who are retiring from political life altogether and those leaving their seats to run for other offices, but it doesn’t include members who have resigned or died during the current Congress.
The number of House departures is inching closer to a recent high in 2018, when 52 lawmakers didn’t run for re-election. And, as in 2018, which was a bruising election year for the GOP, more House Republicans are heading for the exits than Democrats.