What’s behind the recent wave of Congressional exits?

KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

Two dozen Democrats and over 20 Republicans plan to retire from Congress this year. Several members of the House have chosen to end their terms early, making the situation especially difficult for an already tight GOP majority. The most recent examples include Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher and Texas Congressman Ken Buck. In interviews prior to his exit this month, Buck called out a lack of professionalism in the current Congress. How serious is this wave of exits? And what are some of the underlying factors making it harder for well-intentioned members to do their jobs?

Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning for Joe Biden’s re-election with strong messaging on protecting abortion rights. It seems like an opportune time for Democrats to push the issue, with oral arguments in a Supreme Court case over access to the abortion drug mifepristone beginning earlier this week. There is hope that keeping abortion in the news could drive fringe voters to the polls this fall. But does a strong push on abortion miss the issues that matter to the class of voters at the foundation of the Democratic party? How would Biden’s re-election bid fare if the current realignment of non-college-educated voters continues?

A new law in Indiana seeks to create more space for intellectual diversity in college classrooms. Supporters say the law could change a culture of silencing conservative voices on campus. It’s a serious problem, but will legislation provide a real solution?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone this is left right and center. I'm David Green and I want to start the show in Congress
0:07.9	Because it seems like everyone is leaving. I mean that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but in the House of Representatives at least two dozen
0:14.0	Democrats are retiring and more than 20 Republicans and we should say a number of them
0:19.3	mostly Republicans are not waiting until the end of their terms to leave.
0:24.0	They're getting out right now.
0:26.0	Why?
0:27.0	And what does this say about our Congress?
0:28.0	And what does it say about our country that lawmakers are running away?
0:32.0	The latest name on the list was
0:33.6	Wisconsin representative Mike Gallagher he is cutting his term short and
0:37.2	leaving the house on April 19th. His announcement coincided with the last day
0:42.4	for former Colorado representative can His announcement
0:43.4	Coincided with the last day for former Colorado representative Ken Buck. Buck announced his retirement a few months ago and also decided to leave office before November
0:50.5	So Buck's seat is gonna be filled in a special election.
0:54.0	Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's empty seat will also be filled this summer,
0:58.0	but Gallagher's seat could remain empty, meaning that the slim Republican majority in the House well just
1:04.3	got slimmer but I want to play a little bit of what former Colorado
1:07.9	Congressman Ken Buck said about this decision to leave but a lot of this is personal.
1:13.4	That's the problem.
1:14.4	Instead of having decorum, instead of operating in a professional manner, this place has just
1:19.6	evolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.
1:26.0	All right, a lot to talk about here with these exits and joining us.
	...

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