Another Republican Retires as MTG Warns “Dam Is Breaking”

Another Republican is retiring from Congress, in what is becoming an exodus before next year’s midterm elections.

Representative Dan Newhouse, whose Washington district is a safe Republican seat, announced Wednesday morning that he would not be running for reelection in 2026. Newhouse, who voted for President Trump’s impeachment after the January 6, 2021, insurrection, had survived primary challenges to his seat in 2022 and 2024.

Newhouse was also one of 35 Republicans who voted to establish the January 6 commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection, so it’s telling that after surviving two elections after that, he now thinks his time is up. Newhouse’s retirement means that only one Republican who voted to impeach Trump in Congress, Representative David Valadao of California, remains in office, although he has a tough election in a battleground district.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a strong supporter turned critic of the president, announced her own resignation last month. She told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Tuesday night that she thinks “the dam is breaking” regarding Republican support for Trump.

“Many Republicans may not have called him out, but last week 13 Republicans voted with Democrats to overturn one of President Trump’s executive orders which enabled him to fire federal workers,” Greene said, referring to Trump’s deranged post criticizing Rob Reiner after he and his wife were killed in their home Sunday.

“We also saw Indiana Republicans vote against redistricting. He didn’t call any of them traitors and call for primaries against them,” Greene added. “I would like to say that that is a sign, where you’re seeing Republicans … entering the campaign phase for 2026, which is a large signal that lame-duck season has begun and that Republicans will go all in for themselves in order to save their own reelections.”

Greene’s assessment, along with Newhouse’s resignation, seems to indicate that Republicans can see the writing on the wall for 2026, and it’s not good for them. Almost all of the off-year elections that have already taken place have been big wins for Democrats, or narrow victories for Republicans. In less than one year, the same shifts could happen in congressional races and Democrats could take over the House.