'This Congress really isn't normal': Analyst puzzled as retiring Republicans 'unretire'
Over the past several days, members of Congress who have said they plan to retire in 2024 have backtracked on their decisions — and an analyst sees something odd about that.
Most recently, Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), who said in January he was retiring at the end of his term, decided he will run for reelection after all. He said he'd been urged to reconsider by Republicans including Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and former President Donald Trump.
MSNBC producer Steve Benen wrote in a column Friday that it is unusual for a member to proclaim they're not running for reelection and then retract that statement.
Benen explained that given Tennessee's far-right leanings, he doesn't expect Green to suffer any consequences for "his recent vacillating."
"It’s not common for members of Congress to announce their departures, only to reverse course soon after, though in recent months, it’s happened with unusual frequency," he noticed.
He cited Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), who made the same move to step out of office. He wanted his old state senate seat back. The following day, however, he reversed course.
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) announced a year after she said she would retire that she too had changed her mind.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) was giving up his seat to run for U.S. Senate. Six days later, he quit because Trump endorsed his rival.
Benen couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason connecting all of these.
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"When a member of Congress retires, and then soon after unretires, it’s weird," he wrote. "When several members do it, it’s a reminder that this Congress really isn’t normal."
Democrats recently won a special election in New York for disgraced former Rep. George Santos' (R) seat. Analysts argued that it could predict what will unfold in 2024.
The Associated Press reported last month that the "purple" districts in California could help swing the House to Democrats as well.
"As in 2022, the most competitive contests are concentrated in Republican-held districts that were carried by then-candidate Joe Biden in 2020 — genuinely competitive territory is diminishing nationally," said the report.
Winning those seats in California alone would flip the House. The high stakes could be giving the GOP reason to beg members not to retire this year and wait instead until 2026, Benen suggests.