The year of Trump

I can't recall which Republican said it, but whoever said that if Trump got the party's nomination for president, it would be devastating for the GOP was right.

[O]f the 38 GOP members of Congress planning to retire (or having already retired), 13 are planning to seek another political office (or have new roles in the Trump administration). Likewise, some members of Congress are retiring in the wake of personal scandal including Reps. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), Joe Barton (R-Texas), and Trent Franks (R-Ariz). In other words, a good number of the retirements seem to be clearly related to personal considerations and cannot be attributed to a desire to seek refuge from a chaotic presidency.

However, even if we only look at the remaining retirements that number would exceed the average number of total retirements per party (11 members) per Congress since 1974 according to data gathered by Roll Call.

[...]

This evidence would suggest that Republican members of Congress could be taking stock of political climate — a president under investigation, a party pursuing publically unpopular legislation, etc. — and deciding that they would rather invest their time in other ventures or, perhaps, sit comfortably on a beach somewhere.

[...]

[T]hese retirements coupled with the president’s low approval rating, might suggest significant cracks in the relationship between the president and his party. Those cracks will likely become a massive chasm if the party has significant losses in the midterms.

  The Hill

But it's not just the GOP.

It is also important to briefly address the number of retirements on the Democratic side of the aisle. There are 17 Democrats retiring as of this writing, a number that exceeds the norm.

This can only be a good thing. And still, there are not nearly enough in either party who are retiring.

[N]ine of these Democrats are seeking (or already assumed) another political office. Additionally, you have Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) leaving as a result of personal scandal.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.