Fleeing GOP lawmakers 'can't be more excited to get out': reporter
February 20, 2024
Multiple high-profile Republicans — including Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Ken Buck (R-CO), and Mark Green (R-TN) -— have abruptly announced their retirement plans in recent months, and a CNN panel speculated on Tuesday that the reason has to do with the nonstop chaos engulfing the House Republican conference.
Speaking of the departures, Axios reporter Juliegrace Brufke told CNN that working in this current Congress, which has seen unprecedented leadership struggles, has been miserable.
"They could not be more excited to get out," she declared. "They feel relieved about it, they say nothing's getting done. And a lot of these chairmen that are leaving, they haven't turned over their gavels yet, they could have been there another two years before leaving."
Brufke then said that Republicans who are sticking it out say that they aren't retiring because they fear they'll be replaced by a "much more extreme" Republican who will further add to congressional dysfunction.
"There's so much dysfunction right now," she emphasized.
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Political commentator Errol Louis, meanwhile, compared the current GOP-led House to the "do-nothing Congress" that former President Harry Truman infamously railed against.
He also noted that these lawmakers are making "noisy exits" by "leaving and complaining on your way out the door."
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) recently said lawmakers are retiring because "they know that they're going to lose, and they're sick of the bulls***—plain and simple."
"I think that's why you're seeing so many people leave. Some of these people are in key positions, and they would remain in key positions, even in the minority," he said.
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