One in 10 lawmakers will leave Congress at the end of the year.
To date, 61 members of Congress — 52 from the House and nine from the Senate — have announced plans to retire at the end of the term or are leaving to run for another office.
The number could still go up in the coming months, but it is already the most retirements in more than three decades and the second largest in roughly a century, according to data compiled by the Brookings Institution that dates back to 1930.
The top year for congressional retirements was 1992, when 65 House members and seven senators left or ran for another office. Those 72 voluntary departures — many more lost reelection campaigns that year — were due to a variety of factors, including redistricting changes, lawmakers caught up in a House check-bouncing scandal and a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment.
The 60 lawmakers leaving this year do not include another three senators whose terms are not up but are running for governor in their states and would have to resign from the Senate if they win: Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Retiring senators
Of the nine senators leaving when their terms are up this year, eight are simply retiring, including former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and Senate Democrats’ current No. 2, party whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois.
Mr. McConnell, who turns 84 on Friday, has served in the Senate for 41 years and Mr. Durbin, 81, has served for 29 years. Respectively, they rank second and fifth in Senate seniority.
The youngest retiring senator is 55-year-old Iowa Republican Joni Ernst. She and Sens. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, and Gary Peters, Michigan Democrat, are leaving after their second six-year term.
Wyoming GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis, 71, had initially planned to run for a second term but decided to retire after one.
Ms. Lummis’ retirement announcement was among the most transparent, as she said she’s “come to accept that I do not have six more years in me.”
“I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon,” she said. “The energy required doesn’t match up.”
Another first-term senator, Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville, is running for governor instead of reelection.
Outside of Mr. McConnell, Democrats’ departures will have the largest impact on the Senate because they’re leaving top committee roles open. Mr. Durbin, Mr. Peters and New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, retiring after her third term, are the top Democrats, respectively, on the Judiciary, Homeland Security and Foreign Relations panels.
House members eye vacancies
Not all of the 60 lawmakers departing their seats are fleeing Congress. A total of 15 House members — eight Republicans and seven Democrats — are running for Senate, including nine seeking to replace the aforementioned departing senators.
On the Republican side, Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr is running for Mr. McConnell’s seat, Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson for Ms. Ernst’s, Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman for Ms. Lummis’ and Alabama Rep. Barry Moore for Mr. Tuberville’s.
Five House Democrats are taking advantage of the Senate vacancies, including Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens running for Mr. Peters’ seat and New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas for Ms. Shaheen’s.
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig is running to replace fellow Democrat, Sen. Tina Smith.
And Illinois Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly are battling in a crowded Democratic primary to fill Mr. Durbin’s seat.
They are not the only House members running against each other. Georgia Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter are vying for the GOP nomination to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff.
But perhaps most notable among the House members running for Senate is the three who are mounting primary challenges to incumbents.
Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton is the only House Democrat challenging a sitting senator, two-term incumbent Sen. Ed Markey. Mr. Moulton, 47, is running on generational change, arguing it is time for the 79-year-old senator to pass the torch.
Two House Republicans are also challenging senators in their party.
Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow and Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt are pitching themselves as more in line with President Trump’s agenda than incumbent Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn.
Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett is seeking the Democratic nomination in the Texas Senate race.
Party distinctions
More Republicans are departing the House at the end of this term than Democrats, 30 to 22.
The departures offer some signal that Republicans are not confident about their ability to hold onto or expand their narrow majority — though most will not say so publicly.
Republicans losing the majority would track with historical trends in which a president who enters office with their party in control of the House typically loses that chamber in the following midterm cycle.
A majority of House Republicans leaving are not done with politics, as 19 are running for other offices: eight for Senate, 10 for governor and one for attorney general.
That is not true for House Democrats, where only eight are leaving to run for another office and 14 are simply retiring.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 85, of California, and former Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, 86, of Maryland, are among those 14, two of several long-serving Democrats stepping aside as the party pushes for generational change.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, 78, of New York, is retiring after being nudged out of his role as top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
One of the 14 Democrats retiring is 88-year-old Eleanor Norton Holmes, the nonvoting delegate for the District of Columbia.
Two of the retiring House members would have faced tough reelection campaigns if they opted to run.
Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon is leaving an open seat for Republicans to defend in a district that President Trump lost by 5 points in 2024.
Maine Rep. Jared Golden is leaving Democrats in an even bigger lurch as they try to hold onto a district that Mr. Trump won by 10 points.
Both Mr. Bacon and Mr. Golden are a dying breed of centrist, willing to work across the aisle and vote with the other party on issues of importance. The lack of bipartisan productivity factored into their decisions.
“I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning,” Mr. Golden wrote in his retirement announcement. “Simply put, what I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father and a son.”
