Brace yourself for a Capitol Hill exodus that’s shaking up the political landscape as a staggering 36 House members pack their bags and call it quits ahead of next year’s midterm elections, Fox News reported.
This wave of retirements, spanning both Democrats and Republicans, signals a deeper frustration with the toxic partisanship and gridlock that have come to define Congress,
The retirements kicked off with announcements earlier this year, including from notable figures like moderate Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a retired Air Force general who’s battled through nine tough races in his Omaha district over the past decade.
Bacon, who revealed this summer he won’t seek a sixth term, summed up his disillusionment with a blunt confession to Fox News Digital: "The fire wasn’t there anymore."
Let’s unpack that—when a seasoned fighter like Bacon, who’s weathered countless political storms, admits the spark is gone, it’s a glaring red flag about the state of our legislative arena.
He’s not alone; with 21 Republicans and 15 Democrats bowing out, the tally reflects a bipartisan discontent, though the GOP feels the heavier hit as they scramble to defend a slim House majority.
While some departing Democrats, like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 85, carry decades of service, the majority of retirees are surprisingly younger, fed up with the nastiness that’s infected Capitol Hill.
Take Republican Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas, just 53 and chair of the House Budget Committee, who told Fox News Digital he views public office as "a temporary stint in stewardship, not a career."
That’s a refreshing nod to the Founding Fathers’ vision, but it also stings—when even rising stars see more value outside Congress than in it, what’s left for those still grinding through the partisan muck?
Then there’s Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, only 43, who penned a raw op-ed in the Bangor Daily News lamenting the "increasing incivility and plain nastiness" pervading politics.
Golden’s words cut deep, especially for those of us who long for a return to principled debate over petty name-calling, but they also highlight how progressive and far-right agendas have turned compromise into a dirty word.
Former Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire echoed this, noting to Fox News Digital that working across the aisle became "much more difficult" over her 12 years, as moderate GOP allies vanished.
Even major legislative victories, like the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act this summer—a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s second-term domestic agenda—haven’t convinced some Republicans to stay.
David Wasserman of The Cook Report pointed out that many GOP members feel they’ve made their mark with this bill and now see "opportunities to be more impactful elsewhere," a sobering take on Congress’s diminishing allure.
Yet, amidst the gloom, Bacon offers a flicker of hope, telling Fox News Digital, "When folks move on, new people move in, and I know there’s good people out there," a reminder that fresh faces might just shake off the partisan cobwebs.
