Dysfunction in Congress. The American voters are sick of it and the gridlock that it creates. Apparently, some of the legislators are also fed up and they’re walking out in droves.
What is to blame for the unprecedented chaos that has been roiling Congress?
The fundamental cause of the dysfunction and paralysis is the extreme polarization of American society that was the hallmark of the Trump administration and that has given way to even greater discord and chaos in its aftermath as Trump exploits division to make a second run at the White House and mount successful outcomes to his many legal battles.
Another is that the ideological gap between the two major parties has widened over time, making it harder to find common ground and compromise on key issues. Political processes have been weaponized and cooperation between the parties is now practically impossible. Congress would rather shut down the government than compromise.
The House GOP majority spent the past few months deposing its leader, waging a weekslong internal war to select a new speaker and struggling to keep federal funding flowing. Right-wing members have rejected any spending legislation that could become law and railed against their new leader for turning to Democrats, as his predecessor did, to avert a government shutdown.
Now more than three dozen members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election next year, some to go on to other pursuits, but others simply because they have gotten sick of Washington politics.
The chaos has Republicans increasingly worried that they could lose their slim House majority next year, a concern that typically prompts a rash of retirements from the party in control—but never so many at one time. The GOP slim majority has been instrumental in some key decisions that have disgusted the public—none as much as the stubborn refusal to oust the disgraced George Santos.
But it is not only GOP lawmakers who are opting to leave; Democrats, too, are right behind them, with retirements across parties this year outpacing those of the past three election cycles combined.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) is a good representation of the increasing ambivalence towards “doing the people’s work” and why so many are at the end of their patience. In an interview, Blumenauer announced his retirement last month after more than a quarter-century in the House.
“I think I can have more impact on a number of things I care about if I’m not going to be bogged down for re-election,” Blumenauer said.
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., stated that this has been the “most unsatisfying period in my time in Congress because of the absolute chaos and the lack of any serious commitment to effective governance.”
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., announced he would not seek re-election after his dissatisfaction and sense of disconnect with the GOP had grown too great. Buck, who voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California from the speakership, has denounced his party’s election denialism and many members’ refusal to condemn the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“We lost our way,” Buck told The New York Times this month. “We have an identity crisis in the Republican Party. If we can’t address the election denier issue and we continue down that path, we won’t have credibility with the American people that we are going to solve problems.”
