A new Congress will be introduced in a matter of days, and a myriad of outgoing lawmakers have made their concerns and questions for their and the country’s future known.
Some had advice for the upcoming Congress. Others were thankful they were leaving. Most were frustrated with political parties, partisanship, or the slow going process in the chambers. Here’s what they said.
HOW TRUMP COULD IMPACT THE PENTAGON
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ)
Sinema withstood a torrent of attention at most every turn during her time in Congress, and found praise from both Republicans and Democrats. The political independent, who sometimes caucused with her former Democratic Party, drew a hard line on the filibuster and spoke her mind.
In an exit interview with Semafor, she did more of the same. Sinema says a Senate Democrat reached out to her after the election to apologize and said she was right about protecting the filibuster. “I was surprised about that one,” she said. “I was very surprised. And I appreciate it.”
She mentioned that she didn’t understand why she was viewed as an enigma in her time with the Senate, saying whoever thought that “wasn’t paying attention” and that she believes she was “highly predictable” because she didn’t say things she didn’t mean.
Sinema drew a lot of criticism from the left at times during her Senate career, most recently for blocking President Joe Biden’s reappointment of a top labor board nominee. She responded to it by saying she doesn’t “give a sh*t.”
Ultimately, she’s thankful to be leaving after six years in the House and Senate each. On if would return to politics she said, ““No … We’re good.”
RFK JR. ON ULTRAPROCESSED FOOD: THE SCIENCE ON FOOD DYES, GLYPHOSPHATE, AND SEED OILS
Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV)
Manchin, who spent his last months in the Senate as an independent following frustration with his own party, didn’t differ much from Sinema’s frustration with Congress. He called the Democratic Party’s brand “toxic” in a CNN interview, and lamented his former party’s progressive swing.
“They have basically expanded upon thinking, ‘Well, we want to protect you there, but we’re going to tell you how you should live your life from that far on,’” Manchin said. “This country is not going left,” he added.
He turned his ire onto Republicans too, calling them “extreme” and that they lacked common sense on gun control. “They’re too extreme, it’s just common sense,” Manchin said. “I’m not going to ban you from buying it, but you’re going to have to show some responsibility.”
Manchin declined to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election after briefly flirting with his own presidential bid following President Joe Biden’s departure. He ultimately declined to enter the race because he didn’t want to be a “spoiler” as a potential third-party candidate under “No Labels.“
The former governor of his home state suggested Harris lost the election because she was acting as someone she wasn’t by shifting to the center, while Trump was a known commodity.
FETTERMAN EMBRACES SECOND TRUMP TERM AS BIDEN LEAVES OFFICE
He concluded his thoughts by saying he wouldn’t miss the Senate, even though he cherished serving his home state.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN)
The Minnesota congressman caught flack from every direction within the Democratic Party for his early criticism of President Joe Biden’s age during his unsuccessful presidential run. That criticism ended up coming to fruition later as Biden was removed as the Democratic nominee in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
He said if he feels vindicated now, it’s “awfully unsatisfying.”
“I felt vindicated the day I announced my campaign, because I knew this was not an opinion,” he told Politico. “This was a fact. The fact was, he was not in a position to win. The fact was his approval numbers were historically low. The fact was his physical decline was real. And the only vindication I cared about was my own, and I’m saddened that I’m vindicated. I would have much rather traded that vindication for success, and that’s why I’m so utterly disappointed in many of my colleagues and our party.
Phillips thinks his party is “devoid of leadership” at the moment and needs “a comprehensive turnaround.” But he likely won’t be a part of that as he mentioned he doesn’t intend to seek office again, though wouldn’t completely rule it out. He added that his successor, Rep.-elect Kelly Morrison (D-MN) is “very able” and competent.
FOUR BIG DEADLINES IN 2025 THAT WILL TEST GOP TRIFECTA LEADERSHIP
Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-KS)
LaTurner has had his future decided for months now, saying in April that his congressional service had taken a toll on him and he wanted to spend more time with his children.
His decision also came down to the fact he felt the House was unable to get anything done. He’s hoping that he can leave Congress and return one day when lawmakers can come together.
“We’re in a season right now, and it’s a season of being very divided,” he told RollCall.
LaTurner thinks a good fix would be to open up the congressional process, which he think would result in more constituents’ work being done. But he still believes there’s a “market for dysfunction” in the House that encourages wild statements to the media in order for politicians to fundraise.
He thinks the legislative process in state legislatures still works, and Congress should model off of that.
“Bills get introduced and referred to the committee of jurisdiction and receive hearings,” he said. “And then it goes to the floor, and anyone can stand up and speak to a bill, anyone can offer an amendment on a bill. All you have to do is convince the majority of your colleagues that it’s a good idea and it can pass on the floor as well, and so that kind of environment rewards putting your head down and working.”
“It’s just a lot better model,” he said.
BIDEN MISHANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS LOOMS OVER PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION
Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA)
Wild saw the consequences of the 2024 election in her narrow loss to Rep.-elect Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district.
She blames Democrats for not spending time on the right issues.
“Where we really went wrong,” Wild said, “was that the party as a whole spent too much time on issues that were not affecting people’s everyday lives.” She said her opponent won because he was on the same ballot as President-elect Donald Trump.
“I enjoyed an advantage with a lot of people who did not vote for Bob Casey or Kamala Harris, but voted for me,” Wild said. “The GOP registered a whole lot of new young voters, MAGA type voters, And they showed up and enough of them voted for the next line down … it hurt me. I don’t mean to be ungracious, but I can’t identify any secret sauce other than good fortune.”
To fix the party’s election issues, Wild says they must “diversify” their message and avoid getting caught up in a reproductive rights memo that didn’t resonate with everyone. They also need young leaders, she added.
“We need to diversify our message, but I also think we need to listen and pay attention to some of the bright, younger leaders in our party, and stop doing things in an old school kind of way,” Wild said. “We need to reinvent how we campaign.”
HOW HARRIS BLEW THROUGH MILLIONS IN FINAL WEEKS OF HER CAMPAIGN
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
One of the eldest lawmakers in the House, with a career that spanned four decades, had a central issue that he wanted to settle on in his closing days: marijuana. He’s fought for the drug for decades.
The 76 year old suggested he didn’t understand why federal legalization of the drug wasn’t an objective he completed during his time in Congress. “I thought it wouldn’t be this hard, take this long,” he told Politico.
“I had been working on this for more than three decades,” Blumenauer said. “I was under no illusion that it would be simple and quick.”
There’s tension that Blumenauer’s cannabis caucus, led by him, will be unable to find unification after himself and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), who started a cannabis working group years ago together, are gone. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said it would “be a transition” without him. “It takes a moment to adjust and step up into a gap like that.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The legislator champions the drug, though doesn’t consume it. Though often viewed as a light-hearted drug that’s often joked about, he refuses to do that either. He recalled a 1973 conversation to Politico that occurred after his state decriminalized the drug and his friends greeted him with smoke.
However he didn’t enjoy the joke, saying, “I couldn’t think of anything more stupid than having a pot party celebrating our victory in the legislature … We needed to take the issue seriously.”
