WASHINGTON – House Republicans are scheduled to depart for their annual retreat on Wednesday. But this year, a number of lawmakers are opting to skip it, harboring frustration and exhaustion at the infighting that has locked down the party’s ability to govern.
“Everybody’s tired. I know I’m tired,” one House Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. The intra-party battles that have roiled the House in recent months, the GOP lawmaker explained, has sapped the energy from some members.
Another House Republican who does not plan to attend noted frustration remains with ultraconservative lawmakers who have impeded House action and “is wearing everyone out” as a result.
The lawmaker reflected that there’s still hard feelings in the Republican conference, since it has been “less than six months since everything happened,” referring to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Lawmakers typically use the retreats to talk about policy, hold discussions about ongoing debates and more. But one of the handful of Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., told USA TODAY the events are “not productive.”
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The retreat is scheduled to take place in West Virginia on Wednesday and Thursday.
Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., a lawmaker representing a battleground district in the 2024 elections, said he personally has work to do with his constituents and needs to spend time with “family that I never see.” But he couldn’t blame other members for sitting out this year’s retreat for other reasons.
“It’s just we’ve been here, we’ve been among each other for so long. We’ve had retreats!” Molinaro half-joked, referencing Congress’ 10 straight weeks of session last year that saw tensions flare up among lawmakers almost to the brink of physical fights.
“This place is a pressure cooker,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at the time.
For what it’s worth, other lawmakers say the retreat’s timing is just unfortunate, noting that several members have competitive elections coming up. Others simply have scheduling conflicts.
Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., noted it’s «pretty tough to get» attention on the weekends and said members are taking advantage of the weekdays they can get to be on the campaign trail ahead of the 2024 elections.
“If I had a race, I’d be going home,” Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., whose primary election is in August, said. “By nature, congresspeople are just busy people.”
Dozens of officials are also retiring from Congress in the coming months, given the dysfunction that has consumed the House recently. Those lawmakers don’t have much incentive to attend the retreat and “working on future agendas might not be as interesting,” Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., said.
