Nearly 50 House members and a dozen senators are not seeking re-election next year

Congress will lose more than 800 years of combined congressional experience

A Wall Street Journal Politics newsletter by Damian Paletta reports that Congress will lose more than 800 years of combined experience from Capitol Hill next year. The newsletter counts nearly 50 members of the House of Representatives who are not seeking re-election, plus another dozen U.S. senators who are not seeking re-election.

Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief, wrote that he has covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor, covering the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns. The edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Alistair Dawber and Alina Heineke.

Paletta does not include a handful of House members who are running for Senate in the House tally. The newsletter separately counts another dozen senators who are not seeking re-election, while the House candidates are mentioned but left out of that tally.

Paletta wrote: “A tidal wave of retirements, some the easy way (Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Michael McCaul), others the hard way (Sens. John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy), is going to wipe out more than 800 years of combined congressional experience from Capitol Hill next year.”

Among the departing lawmakers are four who have been in Congress since the 1980s: Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, Steny Hoyer and Mitch McConnell.

Paletta said many of the departing lawmakers were present for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, debt-ceiling squabbles and other episodes when Washington had to rally to deal with a crisis. He identifies the loss of that accumulated experience as the risk of the turnover.

Paletta asks whether the change is a good thing or a bad thing. He then wrote: “Government debt has grown and grown. America has become more polarized. Congress’s stature has shrunk. Maybe it’s time for some new people?”

Paletta places the retirements in a moment when many American voters have lost faith in government and believe “U.S. politics is corrupt and serves only the well-connected.”

Paletta’s account leaves the central judgment unresolved, weighing the experience that will leave Capitol Hill against the possibility of new people in Congress.

Other developments

Paletta’s newsletter also carried other Washington developments and a calendar note.

The Justice Department has charged longtime Virginia state senator L. Louise Lucas with running a criminal enterprise, according to the newsletter.

Calley Means, a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is leaving the Trump administration after the White House slowed down Kennedy’s food agenda, Paletta reported.

President Trump is scheduled to travel to Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday morning for a midterm rally there at 2 p.m. ET, the newsletter said.

The Justice Department is reviewing allegations that Corey Lewandowski profited at the Department of Homeland Security, Paletta reported. The inquiry is based on a referral from the DHS inspector general, which shared its findings about Lewandowski’s tenure at the department in recent days.

Paletta asked, “Are Americans still afraid of socialism?” He then wrote that Trump and many Republicans believe that tapping into decades of fears about “communist menace” will resonate with voters. He noted that the goal of making the Nov. 3 elections “a referendum on Democratic extremism” is complicated by widespread economic frustration and a bipartisan political shift.

Trump called Elon Musk and asked him to lift Starlink restrictions on Ukraine, telling the SpaceX chief he was frustrated the system’s speeds remained capped, Paletta reported. Trump said the capped speeds left some Ukrainian offensive drones and interceptors powerless against Russian attacks. The system was suffering from low-speed limits early on Friday.

In a calendar note marking this day in 1987, Paletta wrote that the Senate rejected Robert Bork’s nomination as a justice on the Supreme Court.

Earlier, MSI reported that Congress was likely done legislating until after the November midterms and that dozens of lawmakers were quitting or not seeking re-election. Paletta’s newsletter now gives the turnover a combined scale of more than 800 years of congressional experience.