51 House members announce retirement, threatening Republican majority

By mid-February 2026, 51 House incumbents had announced they would not seek re-election — matching the full-cycle decade average in just the first month of filing season. Of those, approximately 36 were Republicans and 22 were Democrats, with the GOP departure rate breaking the single-party record of 34 Republican retirements set in 2018, the cycle that preceded Democrats' 40-seat wave. Political analysts noted that the disproportionate Republican exodus signaled midterm anxiety and institutional frustration with Speaker Mike Johnson's narrow majority.