The GOP Retirement Wave Is Here

A significant number of Republican members are retiring because they foresee the party losing its House majority. Historically, the majority party in the House often gets 'booted out' during midterms, and members prefer to avoid the perceived powerlessness of being in the minority.

Joe Perticone notes, 'it usually happens where the majority party in the House gets booted out. And so we saw in 2018 Republicans, 39 of them retired in that cycle. Right now, Amedei makes 31.' He adds that members 'don't want to stick around because it's not fun when you go from having power in the majority to being powerless in the minority.'

Even while in the majority, Republican members feel they cannot effectively govern or pursue their legislative interests because Donald Trump dictates the House agenda. Speaker Mike Johnson is seen as doing 'everything that Trump says,' preventing members from prioritizing their 'pet projects' or specific policy goals.

Perticone states, 'Trump is steering Congress more so than any president has really in history. And so, Mike Johnson does everything that Trump says and he doesn't allow anything that Trump won't allow. And so the House doesn't get to do anything. You don't get to prioritize your little pet projects.'

Surprisingly, a number of Freedom Caucus members, who might be expected to thrive under a Trump-influenced Congress, are retiring or seeking other offices. They are frustrated by the inability to implement their conservative policies, as Trump demands 'absolute loyalty' and often pushes for actions contrary to their stated goals, such as being 'flexible on the Hight Amendment.'

Perticone highlights, 'a lot of these retirees are members of the Freedom Caucus. These are guys who should be... steering the ship in Congress, but they don't get to do anything because Trump demands absolute loyalty.' He lists examples like Andy Biggs running for governor in Arizona and Chip Roy for attorney general in Texas.

Marjorie Taylor Green, a prominent figure, has not just retired but has publicly expressed profound disillusionment with the MAGA movement, claiming its promises to the base were 'a bunch of lies and empty promises' and that 'MAGA was a lie.' She represents a segment of the party that has become fully disenchanted with the political reality.

The host notes, 'she has kept being out there kind of like clanging this gong that, you know, Donald Trump's promises to the MAGA base have been a bunch of uh lies and empty promises.' Marjorie Taylor Green is quoted saying, 'No, MAGA is I I I think people are realizing it was all a lie. It was a big lie for the people.'