https://www.axios.com/2024/01/08/house-republicans-retirements-holiday-christmasIn an election cycle marked by an unusually high number of congressional retirements, House Republicans are facing a burst of new retirement announcements as they return from the holiday recess.
Why it matters: Members have complained that the chaos of last year and the overarching decline in legislative productivity makes Congress a less fruitful place to work, especially for less publicity-hungry lawmakers.
Some have also lamented the increasingly partisan, aggressive and event violent nature of contemporary national political life.
Driving the news: Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) became the latest to announce his retirement, saying in a statement on Monday that "it became clear to me over the Christmas holiday ... that the time has come to bring my season in public service to a conclusion."
That follows announcements from Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mich.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.). All three are senior members of their respective committees who have been in Congress more than a decade.
Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) also announced that he's jumping into the race for retiring Sen. Mitt Romney's (R-Utah) seat after initially passing on a run.
And Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) announced that his resignation to become president of Youngstown State University will take effect on Jan. 21, more than a month and a half earlier than expected.
Zoom in: All five of those members are considered institutionalists, but they represent safely Republican seats that may very well elevate more ideologically extreme members in their place.
The concern among many of the members opting to remain in Congress is that these retirements could serve to exacerbate congressional gridlock and partisanship.
