R Street Institute
Policy Studies Governance

Why we left Congress: How the legislative branch is broken and what we can do about it

by Marian Currinder AND Michael Beckel, Issue One AND Amisa Ratliff, Issue One
Dec 6, 2018
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Authors

Marian Currinder
Former Senior Fellow, Governance
Michael Beckel
Manager of Research, Investigations, and Policy, Issue One
Amisa Ratliff
Research Intern, Issue One

Key Points

Only once since 1930 has the number of voluntary departures been higher than it was this cycle. Members choosing to walk away from their public service positions include eight Republican committee chairs and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), who became the second speaker in a row to voluntarily give up the gavel of the most powerful position in the House.

Interviews with a select group of over half a dozen outgoing and recently-retired lawmakers who were vocal about why they chose not to return to Congress next year raised a number of critical issues. They range from hyper-partisanship in Congress and increased fundraising demands, to the growing centralization of power in party leaders, “closed rules” limiting legislative debate, and even the House calendar.

Republican and Democratic members of Congress have proposed a variety of potential solutions, including the formation of a Joint Select Committee on the Organization of Congress.

Press Release

Why We Left Congress: How the Legislative Branch is Broken and What We Can Do About It

Introduction

The 116th Congress, when it gavels into session in January, will have one of the largest freshman classes in modern history — with more than 90 new members in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is, at least in part, because a staggering number of lawmakers decided to leave Congress during the 115th Congress — including eight Republican committee chairs as well as House Speaker Paul Ryan (RWI), who became the second Speaker in a row to voluntarily walk away from the most powerful position in the House of Representatives.

Read the full report here.

Issue One is the leading cross-partisan political reform group in Washington. We unite Republicans, Democrats and independents in the movement to fix the broken political system. Issue One’s ReFormers Caucus of more than 200 former members of Congress, governors, and Cabinet officials is the largest bipartisan coalition of its kind ever assembled to advocate for solutions to fix our broken political system. www.issueone.org

The R Street Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government. https://www.rstreet.org

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