If you are a member of Congress and you're a Democrat, like this has been your opportunity to get big things done,

and you see the writing on the wall, you're like, even if I get reelected, I'm going to be here in the minority party and it's going to suck.

So, am I really going to sign up for that?

The second factor is that right now the climate in Congress is very, very negative and spiteful,

where someone told me that the Capitol or the halls of Congress used to be like a shopping mall.

Even at like 6-7 pm because everyone's just like going around, there's like a lot of energy, a lot of life,

walking around, staffs like doing work.

Now they say all the doors are closed and it's like a ghost mall.

Or the vibe is really negative. People are just trying to get out of there.

Staff are very demoralized.

Part of this was the January 6th insurrection, where it changed the energy.

Maybe people will not feel safe.

And there have been a ton of death threats to various members of Congress,

much more so than at earlier points.

So, if you were a Democratic member of Congress, you're like, wait, why am I coming back for this stuff?

What's my upside down?

Yeah, what's my upside? So, you're seeing a bunch of people retire.

Will that hurt Democrats' chances of limiting their losses? Yes, it will,

because you'd much rather have an experienced incumbent with lots of money running in a seat rather than someone new.

Yeah, so the prospects of Republicans taking the house next year, I think everyone recognizes are very, very high.

Next week on Forward, Build Back Better, is it dead, is it coming back, is it on life support?

We give our read here, plus Omicron.

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