Congress is facing a shakeup, and a flood of lawmakers is heading for the exits

WASHINGTON — Congress will look significantly different next year after dozens of its members move on to other political posts or retire. That number is likely to rise as some of those who want to stay lose their re-election bid.

A turnover of at least 13% will be the highest in more than three decades and will bring a wave of modern lawmakers seen as a source of solutions to some of the country’s biggest problems.

But the loss of institutional knowledge and negotiation skills of committee chairs and experienced legislators cannot be easily replaced.

Experts interviewed by States Newsroom said a surge in freshmen could lead to further concentration of power among congressional leaders and enhance the influence of lobbyists, but added that there are benefits, too.

“Serving in Congress is like any other job. It takes time to figure out how to be good at it,” said Molly Reynolds, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. “Even members who have state legislative experience know some things about legislation, but not everything about Congress.”

New lawmakers often don’t understand the more complicated procedures and practices like budget reconciliation, which Republicans used last year to pass their “big, beautiful” law.

“We ran the reconciliation process last year with many members who had never seen a reconciliation draft before,” Reynolds said. “And one consequence of this lack of experience is that it can strengthen party leaders even more.”

But she added it could be beneficial to have “younger members who have a different time horizon to think about some of the country’s problems.”

Generational change is imminent

So far, 57 House members, 21 Democrats and 36 Republicans, have decided to run for other political office or retire. Accordingly, four Democrats and seven Republicans in the Senate are deciding to leave for one reason or another Data compiled from Ballotpedia.

Jonathan K. Hanson, a lecturer in public policy at the University of Michigan, said it can take a while for newer members to get to know the political landscape well enough to understand when to listen to outside influences and when not to.

“You don’t go into Congress knowing how things work,” he said. “And the more people there are who are fresh and kind of green and don’t know how to navigate the institution, the more power special interests, lobbyists, etc. could have to influence the political process.”

Hanson also said that “some generational change is a good thing.”

Longing to be the CEO

North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven said many of his colleagues would choose to run for governor, which he said would be a superior role than the one he holds now.

“I was governor for 10 years before I came here. It’s the best job you can have. It’s a better job than the Senate,” Hoeven said. “I mean, it’s certainly an honor to serve in the Senate. But you just can’t find a better job than being governor. So that’s completely understandable.”

More than a dozen lawmakers are running for governor, including Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville, Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, Florida Republican Senator Byron Donalds, Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.

Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said being a member of Congress can be complex, prompting some lawmakers to focus on defections and other options.

“It’s not an easy task, and people decide they’ve had a good chapter and want to do something different,” Kaine said. “I can understand why people are making that call.”

South Dakota Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson is Election campaign Gov. of his home state said the institution changes every two years as more experienced members retire and modern ones are elected to Congress.

“We always have a lot of failures in every cycle, certainly enough failures to change the nature of the body,” Johnson said. “The bigger factor is who will replace those who have left? And of course we won’t know that until the primaries and general meetings are complete.”

The primary elections began in early March and are still taking place take place on different dates in each state by mid-September.

Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is expected to retire at the end of this year, said the impact of the retirements would depend on which candidates Americans vote for Midterm elections in November.

“If you have people elected who are practical, sensible problem solvers, that’s good,” Peters said. “When people are bipartisan, whether left or right, that’s not good.”

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole said the resignation of members of his own party could have an impact on the election.

“Obviously we’re losing some very good members. And it’s usually easier to defend an incumbent than to win an open seat, especially in a difficult year,” Cole said. “But you see, these things go in cycles. You just have to work through it.”

Travel, long working hours, little satisfaction

Hanson, of the University of Michigan, said more Republicans have decided to retire or seek other office because their party is likely to lose at least one chamber of Congress.

“They expect to lose control of the House of Representatives, and it’s not very tempting for them to stay in the fight under these circumstances,” he said.

The growing challenges of being a member of Congress are one reason some lawmakers are planning to resign from their current positions, Hanson said.

“I think that while the job seems glamorous from the outside, it’s not so glamorous from the inside,” he said. “There’s a lot of traveling. Even when you go home, you’re traveling around your district. That puts a strain on family life. The hours at the nightly voting meetings can be very long.

“And then that would be one thing if it gave you a positive feeling of contributing to the common good, to the concept of public service.”

But, Hanson added, there aren’t as many opportunities these days for lawmakers to pass laws they think make sense.

“I think it’s fair to say that while there are certain people who are drawn to being in the middle of a scene like this, many feel that it’s just not a very satisfying occupation,” he said.

Zachary Peskowitz, a political science professor at Emory University in Georgia, said there are both advantages and disadvantages to having more than 65 representatives leave Congress at the same time.

“On the one hand, there are many members who have a lot of seniority and have served for a long time and have a lot of expertise, but in some cases are in their 70s and 80s,” he said. “And there were concerns about the commitment of some of them.”

Younger members, Peskowitz said, “can approach the task with more energy than you might get from someone who has been in Congress for decades.” Newer lawmakers are also likely to have different viewpoints and priorities, he said.