Lawmakers leaving a sign of dysfunction

Not even Congress likes Congress. An October Gallup showed Americans’ approval for the way Congress was doing its job barely breathing at 13%. Now lawmakers themselves are giving Capitol Hill the thumb’s down.

They’re not just complaining — they’re leaving.

With legislating hitting the wall and partisanship at an alarming high, members of Congress in both parties are heading for the exits, opting out of another term on Capitol Hill to vie for higher office or, in some cases, leave politics altogether, The Hill reported.

Lawmakers, of course, come and go, but the trend of departures has skyrocketed in recent months. A 10-week stretch on the Hill saw an especially tortuous search for a new House Speaker which laid bare some of the partisan rancor afflicting Congress. It’s expected to continue through the end of this year.

Is this any way to run the country? No. Polarization and dysfunction does nothing to help the American people. But that doesn’t stop our warring lawmakers.

“Right now, Washington, D.C. is broken,” Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) said in a statement when announcing that she would not run for reelection. “[I]t is hard to get anything done.”

“Too often elected officials chase the 24-hour news cycle, focusing on the issue of the day, and when you look back there is little to show for it,” said Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.), an 18-year veteran of the House who has also opted against running for reelection.

On one hand, it’s somewhat heartening to hear that those inside the sausage factory are as askance of the operation as those outside the Beltway, but it’s also disappointing to know that so many want to throw in the towel.

Thirty House members — 19 Democrats and 11 Republicans — have announced that they will not seek reelection next year, covering a wide range of congressional seniority, postHouse plans and reasons for jumping ship. Sixteen are retiring from public office, 11 are running for seats in the Senate, and three are eyeing other government positions.

What makes this exodus stand out is that unlike past cycles, when the lawmakers intend on leaving have tended to tilt heavily toward one party or the other, the current departures are coming from both parties.

It’s not just the chaos over the recent near-shutdown of the government, nor ousting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the ensuing debacle of electing a new one that’s taken its toll on lawmakers. Interactions on Capitol Hill have devolved from civil to circus.

In the past few weeks alone, one Republican accused another of elbowing him in the kidney at the Capitol, a committee chairman called another member a “Smurf;” and a congresswoman called her colleague a crude name. The Senate side wasn’t so calm, either — a fistfight nearly broke out between GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and the president of the Teamsters union, Sean O’Brien.

It took Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to hit the brakes on a brawl, yelling at Mullin: “Stop it! No, no, sit down! You know, you’re a United States senator.”

No wonder lawmakers are fed up. So are the American people. Election day can’t come soon enough.