- Congressional dysfunction isn’t just a problem for lawmakers.
- The Congressional Management Foundation said many top aides were also considering an exit.
- One GOP aide cited the “my way or the highway” attitude as a problem in Congress right now.
The wave of lawmakers at the Capitol calling for resignations in recent months — many of them citing deep-seated acrimony — has been difficult to ignore, as Republicans barely maintain a razor-thin majority in the House.
But the gridlock and partisanship that have become commonplace among lawmakers have also taken a toll on senior members of Congress.
Nearly half of top aides are now considering leaving, according to a survey by the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks to build trust in Congress.
The report says 48% of senior officials are considering leaving the Capitol because of “inflammatory rhetoric from the other party.”
The Congressional Management Foundation sent email invitations to more than 2,700 senior House and Senate officials, and 138 staff members chose to participate in the survey.
Among senior executives surveyed who said they “fairly frequently” thought about leaving and believed their own party’s rhetoric was the cause, 59% were Republicans and 16% were Democrats.
“The ‘my way or the road’ attitude that some members of both parties have – and in some cases combined with the apparent view that they alone are fighting for the ‘best’ version of the United States of America — is not beneficial to our constitutional republic,” a Republican House legislative director told the Foundation.
“Dictating is not governing and governing requires compromise, which seems more difficult to obtain with the recent promotions of deputies,” added the legislative director.
In the report, Democrats had a much higher level of anxiety than Republicans about their safety and that of their colleagues in Congress (73% vs. 47%) – a byproduct of tougher political discourse and l January 6 riot at the Capitol.
While Republicans have largely sought closure after the events of January 6, Democrats have continued to harass the Republican Party on this issue and are using the defense of democracy as a key talking point in elections across the country. This year.
“The physical and psychological toll of this place cannot be underestimated,” a Democratic House staff director told the Foundation. “We are in danger as a nation.”
Since the start of the 118th Congress in January 2023, several lawmakers have left the House, including former Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, former Republican Representatives Ken Buck of Colorado and Bill Johnson of Ohio, and former Democratic Representatives David Rhode cicillin. Island and Brian Higgins of New York.
Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, current chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Special Committee, is expected to leave Congress next month.
Just days before Buck left the House, he criticized the current state of the body, arguing that it “continues to deteriorate.”
More than 40 House members have so far chosen not to run in next November’s election. Some of them aspire to higher positions, while others retire.
businessinsider
