Vexed with minority status and rancor, lawmakers retire

WASHINGTON » House Republicans are suffering an early exodus ahead of next year’s elections, hampering their uphill prospects for recapturing control from Democrats as lawmakers chafe under life in the minority, today’s razor- edged partisanship and the tweets and tantrums of President Donald Trump.

Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, this week became the eighth Republican lawmaker to announce he won’t seek reelection, which the 71-year- old attributed to his loss of a leadership role atop his beloved House Agriculture Committee.

While Conaway’s central Texas district is safe Republican territory, the party’s overall departures are on pace to match the 34 who stepped aside before the last elections — the GOP’s biggest total since at least 1930.

Republicans say they don’t expect this year’s departures to reach that level, but their more ominous problem is the retirements of several more junior lawmakers. Their exits put perhaps three of their seats in play for 2020 and suggest an underlying unease within the party about the hard realities of remaining in Congress.

“There’s a mood of tremendous frustration with the lack of accomplishment,” Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., said in an interview this week, days after stunning colleagues when he said he’s leaving after just two House terms. “Why run around like a crazy man when the best you can hope is maybe you’ll see some change at the margins?”

Mitchell, 62, who said he originally intended to serve longer, blamed leaders of both parties for using the nation’s problems “as a means to message for elections” instead of solving them.

Republicans say it can be demoralizing to be in the minority in the House, where the chamber’s rules give the majority party almost unfettered control. That leaves them with little ability to accomplish much, even as they must continue the constant fundraising that consumes many lawmakers’ hours.

“When you’ve been in the majority, it’s no fun to be in the minority,” said veteran Rep. Tom Cole, R- Okla.