House Republicans are suddenly heading for the exits in droves
When one member of the House announces that he’s going to retire instead of seeking reelection, it means something is going on with that member of Congress in particular. When several members of the House announce their retirement in short order – particularly when they’re all from the same party – it means something is going on within that party.
That’s why it’s such a big deal that in the past two weeks, five House Republicans have announced they’re retiring. Mike Conaway is the latest. This comes after Martha Roby, Paul Mitchell, Pete Olson, and Susan Brooks. Apart from all belonging to the same party, none of them have anything in particular in common. None of them appear to be resigning in order to seek higher office. Most of them are not what would generally be considered retirement age. None of them have a shared scandal. In fact none of them have a scandal, period.
The only trend here is that these five Republicans either no longer want to be in the House, or don’t think they can get reelected. Moreover, they’ve all decided in the past two weeks that they don’t want to be part of this anymore, or don’t think they’re going to survive. That can’t be a coincidence. And the only common thread here is that they all belong to a party that’s been taken over by Donald Trump.
So what’s spooked them about Donald Trump? Most of these five retirements took place before Donald Trump’s latest racist tirade, and before the House Judiciary Committee initiated an impeachment inquiry against him. But momentum for impeachment has been building for weeks. Perhaps these five House Republicans just realized they’re going to have to vote “yes” or “no” on Trump’s impeachment, and they don’t think they can get reelected if they vote the way they want to vote. Stay tuned; these five likely won’t be the last. Something is afoot here.
