By MEG KINNARD and MAYA SWEEDLER, Associated Press
Ahead of next year’s midterms, a number of members from both major parties have already announced they’re heading for the exits, either because they’re seeking higher office, simply aren’t running again, or are leaving the chamber early.
Midterm elections are historically tough on the party of the sitting president. With Republicans already hanging onto a razor-thin margin in the U.S. House, tracking the GOP members set to leave the chamber — some of whom have been among President Donald Trump’s top Capitol Hill champions — can provide a window into what work the party has ahead of it in angling to maintain control.
For Democrats seeking to return the House to their party’s hands, retirement announcements are a window of opportunity.
Congressional retirements can be a key barometer ahead of the midterm elections, an indicator of how much churn could be coming to Capitol Hill in the coming cycle.
Here’s where things stand in the House ahead of 2026, with the members who have announced they’re not planning to return:
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas
Date of announcement: Dec. 5, 2025
Reason: Retiring
Doggett, who has represented an Austin-based district for more than three decades, said that he would be departing the House after the end of his current term, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding the state’s new district map merging two Austin-area districts favorable to Democrats. In 2024, Doggett was the first sitting lawmaker in the party to publicly call for President Joe Biden to step down as the party’s nominee for president, citing Biden’s debate performance against Trump failing to “effectively defend his many accomplishments.”
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas
Date of announcement: Nov. 29, 2025
Reason: Retiring
In his announcement, Nehls shared he would be retiring from Congress after three terms and endorsed his twin brother Trever to succeed him. Nehls was first elected to represent the district southwest of Houston in 2020, and was a staunch ally of Trump’s. He was tapped by then-House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a select committee probing the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, though McCarthy later pulled all his picks when Democrats refused to seat some of his choices.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Date of announcement: Nov. 21, 2025
Reason: Resigning
Greene’s transformation from Trump loyalist to one of his harshest critics culminated in her surprise announcement that she would end her congressional career in January 2026. Greene’s resignation followed a public falling-out with Trump in recent months, as the congresswoman criticized him for his stance on files related to Jeffrey Epstein, along with foreign policy and health care. First elected to represent a deeply conservative seat in northwest Georgia in 2020, she spent her first few terms closely tied to the MAGA movement.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.
Date of announcement: Nov. 21, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
A former presidential candidate, Swalwell joined a crowded race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Swalwell, who also served as a House manager in Trump’s first impeachment trial, has represented a northern district that falls east of San Francisco since 2013. His current district’s boundary lines will change slightly due to mid cycle redistricting approved by voters last month, but remains heavily Democratic.
Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y.
Date of announcement: Nov. 20, 2025
Reason: Retiring
Velázquez is the second-longest serving member of the New York U.S. House delegation (and only by a technicality; fellow retiring representative Jerry Nadler was also first elected in 1992 but took his seat a few months early due to his predecessor’s death). The first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress, Velázquez has represented a heavily Democratic district that includes northeast Brooklyn and western Queens. She has a reputation for mentoring progressive lawmakers, and most recently was among the early backers of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist. She cited the need for generational change in her announcement.
Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas
Date of announcement: Nov. 11, 2025
Reason: Retiring
Despite already receiving Trump’s endorsement for his reelection campaign, Arrington announced shortly after the 2025 general election that he would be retiring from Congress. Arrington, a fiscal hawk, is the chair of the House Budget Committee and played a key role in passing Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a large-scale tax and spending bill. He was first elected to a sprawling conservative Texas district that contains Lubbock and Abilene in 2016.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.
Date of announcement: Nov. 10, 2025
Reason: Retiring
A fixture in New Jersey politics, Watson Coleman announced her sixth term would be her last. The first Black woman elected to represent New Jersey in the U.S. House, Watson Coleman has served the district around the state capital of Trenton and the tony college town of Princeton sine 2014, after spending almost two decades representing part of the region in the state legislature. Her seat votes reliably Democratic.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
Date of announcement: Nov. 7, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Stefanik madę her challenge to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul official shortly after the 2025 general election. Stefanik was just 30 years old when she was elected to represent a conservative upstate New York district in 2014. She rose to be the third-ranking House Republican, shedding her earlier reputation as a moderate as she embraced Trump. She was nominated to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations earlier this year, but her nomination was withdrawn over concerns about Republicans’ narrow House majority. Since then, she has more openly discussed her displeasure with the Republican conference, and specifically House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Rep. Jesús García, D-Ill.
Date of announcement: Nov. 6, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Garcia turned in nominating petitions for the 2026 primary in October but confirmed right when the filing period ended that he would not seek a seventh term in his western Chicago seat. His late announcement left only one other candidate who had submitted the necessary paperwork: his chief of staff. The eyebrow-raising maneuver led the House to reprimand Garcia last month. Garcia cited the health of himself and his wife, who has multiple sclerosis, as among the reasons for why he would not seek reelection.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Date of announcement: Nov. 6, 2025
Reason: Retiring
The first female Speaker of the House announced her storied career in Congress would come to an end after nearly 40 years in office. Pelosi represented San Francisco but made her mark on the national stage, ushering through impactful legislation like the Affordable Care Act and keeping an unruly Democratic caucus in line throughout the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. She played key roles in both impeaching Trump and encouraging Biden to end his 2024 reelection campaign.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine
Date of announcement: Nov. 5, 2025
Reason: Retiring
After a half-decade of narrow reelections, Golden announced he would be stepping down from one of the most competitive districts in the country. He cited incivility in Congress and threats against his family in a piece in the Bangor Daily News announcing his retirement. Golden, first elected in 2018, is one of the most moderate Democrats in Congress and has shown his willingness to break with his party on issues ranging from impeaching Trump to reopening the government during this fall’s shutdown.
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa
Date of announcement: Oct. 28, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Iowa’s congressional delegation is reshuffling in light of surprise announcements from Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst that neither was seeking reelection in 2026. Between Reynolds’ April announcement and Feenstra’s official announcement, the representative announced millions of dollars in fundraising. Feenstra has represented the state’s northwest quadrant since 2021, after he toppled controversial incumbent Rep. Steve King in the primary. Feenstra’s district is among the most conservative in the state, though Democrats have a few other races they’re eying.
Rep. Seth. Moulton, D-Mass.
Date of announcement: Oct. 15, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
The six-term representative cited the need for generational change in announcing his challenge to Sen. Ed Markey. Moulton currently represents the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, and has drawn nominal opposition in his heavily Democratic district. Markey beat back a similar challenge from Rep. Joe Kennedy in 2020.
Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas
Date of announcement: Oct. 6, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Hunt drew ire from Senate Republican leadership for taking on Sen. John Cornyn in what party leaders fear will become an expensive, messy primary. Cornyn’s cool relationship with Trump has drawn another candidate beyond the two-term Houston-area congressman, controversial Texas attorney general Ken Paxton. Both are running on their relationship to Trump. Hunt’s runs deep: He was the first Republican to endorse him after the former president’s 2022 comeback campaign announcement, and he gave a prime-time speech on opening night of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. He also campaigned 17 times for Trump in 2024, more than any other Republican surrogate.
Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz.
Date of announcement: Sept. 30, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Schweikert cited the dysfunction in the Congress as motivation for seeking the governorship. First elected to the U.S. House in 2010, Schweikert has in recent years won incredibly narrow reelection campaigns in his suburban Phoenix district. Democrats are again targeting his seat in 2026. A budget hawk, Schweikert has consistently backed Trump’s agenda. Still, according to his campaign consultant, he hopped into a Republican field against the White House’s wishes that already included two Trump-backed candidates, housing developer Karrin Taylor Robson and House Freedom Caucus member U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs. The winner will take on Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Rep. Thomas Tiffany, R-Wis.
Date of announcement: Sept. 23, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Tiffany announced he would join one of the most competitive governor’s races in the country after serving three terms in Congress. The office held by term-limited Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has been hotly contested in the last few cycles. The Trump loyalist received the president’s endorsement in all of his previous campaigns for the U.S. House, but Trump has not yet made an endorsement in the Republican primary. Tiffany’s district, which includes a large swath of the state’s rural north, consistently supports Republicans.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas
Date of announcement: Sept. 14, 2025
Reason: Retiring
McCaul offered an ominous warning about Russian aggression when he announced his retirement in an interview earlier this year. A former anti-terrorism prosecutor and past chairman of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees, McCaul, is part of an older generation of foreign policy hawks who’ve tried to counter a younger crop of Republicans who are more skeptical about U.S. intervention elsewhere in the world. McCaul was first elected in 2004. His district, which stretches from Houston to Austin, consistently backs Republican candidates.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas
Date of announcement: Sept. 11, 2025
Reason: Retiring
The Houston-area congressman announced his second term would be his last, marking yet another departure for the Texas GOP congressional delegation. Luttrell cited a desire to spend more time in Texas, describing this summer’s deadly Central Texas flooding as a “moment of clarity.” His current district’s boundary lines will change slightly due to mid cycle redistricting but remains heavily Republican.
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa
Date of announcement: Sept. 3, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Hinson is vacating a seat in Iowa’s northeastern corner to seek the seat held by Sen. Joni Ernst. Ernst’s surprise retirement came after she drew heavy criticism for her hesitation on one of Trump’s cabinet picks; in a radio interview that served as her official campaign announcement, Hinson said she was running to be “President Trump’s top ally in the United States Senate.” Hinson flipped her district in 2020 and won her relatively split district by larger margins in 2022 and 2024. Democrats had already indicated they put her district on its list of potential pickups.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
Date of announcement: Sept. 1, 2025
Reason: Retiring
After more than two decades in Congress, the dean of New York’s U.S. House delegation is hanging it up. Nadler announced his retirement in early September, describing how watching Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign underscored the need for generational change. He had been a fixture in Manhattan for decades, representing multiple versions of a wealthy uptown district that is heavily Democratic. Nadler was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2023, then served as ranking member on the panel after Republicans won House leadership. He stepped down from that role late last year.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas
Date of announcement: Aug. 21, 2025
Reason: Running for Texas attorney general
After four terms in the U.S. House, and years of challenging party leadership as a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus, Roy announced he would run to succeed Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for Senate next year. Roy has represented a district just north of San Antonio since 2019. While he’s known as a fiscal conservative, his relationship with Trump has been complicated at times as one of the few Republicans who initially pushed back against Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala.
Date of announcement: Aug. 12, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Moore joined the small House Freedom Caucus exodus of retirements when he announced he would not seek a fourth term in the U.S. House and instead run to succeed Sen. Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville is running for governor of Alabama. Moore’s campaign launch underscored his ties to Trump. In it, he promised to “defend the MAGA agenda in the Senate.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
Date of announcement: Aug. 4, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Mace represents South Carolina’s 1st District, and with the exception of a single term, it’s been in GOP hands for decades. And thanks to redistricting following the 2020 census, it’s considered to be more friendly to Republicans. Mace, who worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign, was first elected to the House in 2020. She has largely supported him, although her criticism against him following the Jan. 6, 2021, violence at the U.S. Capitol spurred Trump to back a GOP challenger in her 2022 race. Mace defeated that opponent, won reelection and was endorsed by Trump in her 2024 campaign.
Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill.
Date of announcement: July 31, 2025
Reason: Retiring
After 15 terms, Davis became the second longtime Illinois representative to announce his retirement from office. At the time of his announcement, two others had also said they would seek an open Senate seat. Davis’s district, a solidly Democratic piece of Chicago, includes large sections of the city’s south and west sides. In recent years, he had fended off concerns over his age and closer primaries than in years prior.
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga.
Date of announcement: July 28, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Collins joined fellow Georgia House delegation member Buddy Carter in seeking to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in what will become one of the most closely watched Senate contests of 2026. Collins will leave Congress after two terms representing a district east of Atlanta. He won his 2022 race in part by portraying himself as an everyman trucker and hard-core Donald Trump acolyte.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
Date of announcement: July 25, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Norman announced he would join an already crowded race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster. Known as one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House, and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, Norman has nevertheless had a strained relationship with Trump over the years as he endorsed longtime colleague and primary opponent Nikki Haley in 2024. Norman was elected to the U.S. House in 2017 in a special election to replace Trump’s head of the Office of Management and Budget.
Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa.
Date of announcement: June 30, 2025
Reason: Retiring
Evans announced in June he was vacating the district representing the heart of Philadelphia. He was first elected in 2016 after defeating then-incumbent Rep. Chaka Fattah, who was indicted on federal racketeering charges. He also spent more than three decades in the state legislature. His densely populated district consistently elects Democrats, by wide margins.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.
Date of announcement: June 30, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
South Dakota’s lone U.S. House representative will leave Congress after eight years to seek the governorship. Johnson succeeded current Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in the U.S. House. Noem was the most recently elected governor of South Dakota, but after she was tapped for the Cabinet earlier this year, her lieutenant governor was elevated to the job. Johnson could face the incumbent, as well as other Republican hopefuls, in the gubernatorial primary. Johnson has a largely conservative voting record, but has sometimes joined a minority of Republicans in voting against Trump, including when he voted to override Trump’s veto of a measure that revoked his declaration of an emergency at the southern border. He was later one of 35 House Republicans who voted to establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.
Date of announcement: June 30, 2025
Reason: Retiring
Forced to navigate an ever-thinning line between staying in his party’s and Trump’s good graces without alienating his increasingly Democratic district, Bacon has said he is proud of his bipartisan approach in the face of bitter partisanship in Washington. First elected in 2016, Bacon has said he believes Republicans will have a good shot at keeping the seat in 2026, because he believes Democrats in the race so far appeal mainly to the hard left.
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga.
Date of announcement: May 8, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Among Georgia’s House Republicans vying to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, Carter has been returned to office by voters by double-digit margins since he was first elected to the chamber in 2014. More circumspect when Trump first entered the White House in 2017, Carter has grown to cast himself as a “MAGA Warrior,” supporting Trump’s false claims that he had won the 2020 presidential election and now among those vying for his endorsement in the Senate primary.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.
Date of announcement: May 7, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Krishnamoorthi is one of many Illinois Democrats seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. His Chicago-area district is considered heavily Democratic, and Krishnamoorthi has been reelected by double digits since winning his first House race in 2016.
Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill.
Date of announcement: May 6, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Kelly, among the Illinois Democrats vacating other offices to seek Durbin’s Senate seat, was first elected to the House in a 2013 special election. In the years since, she’s been easily reelected in the heavily Democratic district.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
Date of announcement: May 5, 2025
Reason: Retiring
First winning the seat in 1998, Schakowsky has been easily reelected ever since. The heavily Democratic 9th District includes Chicago neighborhoods along Lake Michigan and a mix of wealthy and middle-class suburbs north and northwest of the city.
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn.
Date of announcement: April 29, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Craig has represented the suburban-to-rural 2nd District south of Minneapolis and St. Paul since unseating Republican Jason Lewis in the 2018 election. While her territory was once considered a swing district, it has trended Democratic in recent years — running as a centrist, she won reelection by a 13-point margin in 2024 — and could conceivably become competitive again with her out.
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich.
Date of announcement: April 22, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Stevens sailed to victory in her last election representing Michigan’s Oakland County, a key voting block in the battleground state. After flipping what had been a reliably Republican seat in 2018 and narrowly defeating her 2020 opponent in 2020, she cruised to reelection in 2022 and 2024 after her district was redrawn and became more favorable to Democrats.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky.
Date of announcement: April 22, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Defeating a Democratic incumbent in 2012, Barr has — in all but one contest — been reelected by wide margins ever since. Now that he’s entered the robust 2026 primary to succeed retiring Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, Barr’s decision not to return to the House sets up what Democrats see as a potential pick up opportunity. Democrats have signaled that they plan to target Barr’s seat among others in trying to win back the House next year, drawing derision from Republicans, who say the Lexington-area district is more GOP-friendly following the last round of redistricting.
Rep. John James, R-Mich.
Date of announcement: April 7, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
James’ April 2025 announcement — just months into his second term — that he’s running to replace term-limited Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer leaves open one of the nation’s most competitive congressional seats. Democrats have aggressively targeted the 10th District, which covers parts of northern Detroit suburbs in Oakland and Macomb counties since James flipped it in 2022.
Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H.
Date of announcement: April 3, 2025
Reason: Running for Senate
Pappas announced in April 2025 that he would run to replace retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Making history in 2018 by becoming New Hampshire’s first openly gay member of Congress, Pappas in 2022 defeated GOP opponent Karoline Leavitt, who is now Trump’s White House press secretary.
Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn.
Date of announcement: March 20, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Rose, who announced his bid for governor in March 2025, has voiced strong support for Trump in a state he’s easily won in the past three presidential elections. The wealthy businessman, farmer and former state agriculture commissioner is among those vying for Trump’s backing in the GOP gubernatorial primary.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.
Date of announcement: Feb. 25, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
A staunch Trump ally since he was elected to the U.S. House in 2020. Donalds has been part of the conservative congressional Tea Party Caucus. A frequent surrogate for the president, Donalds was also on a short list of people considered to be Trump’s vice presidential running mate last year and had Trump’s backing immediately upon announcing his gubernatorial bid in February 2025.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
Date of announcement: Jan. 22, 2025
Reason: Running for governor
Biggs’ departure from the U.S. House means the departure of one of Trump’s top congressional defenders, but his deep red district is likely to stay in GOP hands. First elected to the House in 2016, the former chair of the hard-right Freedom Caucus supported Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election being stolen, and he was among the Republicans who helped oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker in 2023. Announcing in January 2025 that he was pursuing the GOP nomination for governor, Biggs received backing from Trump — who had already officially endorsed another Republican in the race. Trump said he had a “problem” when Biggs jumped in, and now says both candidates have his “COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT.”
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J.
Date of announcement: Nov. 28, 2024
Reason: Running for governor
Sherrill announced the impending end of her House career less than a month after winning her fourth term in November 2024, subsequently launching her bid for governor. She won that effort a year later, as part of Democrats’ successes across a handful of high-level, off-year elections. Sherrill resigned her seat Nov. 21, 2025, and a special election has been set for early 2026.
