Leaving Congress: House of Representatives April 20, 2022 and Senate Departures Data, 1989-2020 Jennifer E. Manning Members of Congress leave the House or Senate for a variety of reasons; these may include Senior Research Librarian resignation, death, or chamber action during a Congress, and retirement, electoral defeat, or pursuit of another office at the end of a Congress. In the 101^st101st Congress (1989-1990) through 112^th Congress (2011-2012 R. Eric Petersen 116th Congress (2019-2020), on average, two Senators and nine Members of the House of Specialist in American Representatives have left before the conclusion of a Congress. Over the same period, on average, 11 National Government 10 Senators and 6159 Members of the House left Congress upon expiration of their terms of office. This report also provides data on those Members who have announced an intention to retire at the completion of the 113^th Congress (2013-2014).

The data provided here may offer insight concerning the turnover of membership in each chamber, but any such conclusions should be drawn with care, as there appears to be no pattern to Member departures. This may be due in part to the individualized nature of congressional careers, which might include numerous events or actions that could affect Members'’ decisions to end their congressional service.

Detailed information regarding 113^th Congress departures is available at http://www.crs.gov/resources/Pages/Congress_113_departures.aspx.

In Congressional Research Service link to page 4 link to page 5 link to page 6 link to page 7 link to page 8 link to page 8 Leaving Congress: House of Representatives and Senate Departures Data, 1989-2020 Contents Tables Table 1. Congresses and Meeting Years, 1989-2020 ....................................................................... 1 Table 2. House of Representatives Departures Data, 101st-116th Congresses ................................. 2 Table 3. House of Representatives Departure Percentages, 101st-116th Congresses........................ 3 Table 4. Senate Departures Data, 101st-116th Congresses ................................................................ 4 Table 5. Senate Departure Percentages, 101st-116th Congresses ...................................................... 5 Contacts Author Information .......................................................................................................................... 5 Congressional Research Service link to page 5 link to page 6 link to page 7 link to page 8 Leaving Congress: House of Representatives and Senate Departures Data, 1989-2020 n each Congress, Members leave the House or Senate for a variety of reasons. In the course of a Congress, those reasons could include resignation, death, or chamber action. At the conclusion Iconclusion of a Congress, Members depart due to retirement, electoral defeat, or pursuit of another office. In the 101^st101st Congress (1989-1990) through 112^th116th Congress (2011-20122019-2020), on average, two Senators and nine Members of the House of Representatives¹Representatives1 have left before the conclusion of a Congress. Over the same period, on average, 1110 Senators (1110% of Senate membership)²2 and 61 59 Members of the House (13.84% of House membership) have left Congress upon expiration of their terms of office.

This report provides data on Members who have left Congress since 1989between 1989 and 2020. Data are divided into two broad categories. The first category, "in term"“in-term” departures, addresses Members who leave prior to the conclusion of a Congress. Circumstances of in -term departures include a Member'Member’s resignation or death, or the action of a chamber regarding a Member'’s status.³3 The second category, "completed term"“complete-term” departures, includes Members who leave the House or Senate at the completion of their terms. This includes Members who retired, were defeated for reelection, or who did not run for reelection to the House or Senate because they sought other elective office. Table 1 2 provides departure information for the House sincefrom the 101st the 101^st Congress (1989-1990) through the 116th Congress (2019-2020). Table 3 . Table 2 provides House completed term departures as a percentage of chamber membership for the same periodperiod. Table 3 4 and Table 4 5 provide Senate departure information, and completed term departures as a percentage of chamber membership, respectively, sincefor the 101st-116th Congresses. Table 1. Congresses and Meeting Years, 1989-2020 Congress, Years Congress, Years Congress, Years Congress, Years 101st, 1989-1990 105th, 1997-1998 109th, 2005-2006 113th, 2013-2014 102nd, 1991-1992 106th, 1999-2000 110th, 2007-2008 114th, 2015-2016 103rd, 1993-1994 107th, 2001-2002 111th, 2009-2010 115th, 2017-2018 104th, 1995-1996 108th, 2003-2004 112th, 2011-2012 116th, 2019-2020 Source: CRS. 1 Data include Representatives, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner. 2 In some instances, Senators were appointed to fill a Senate vacancy, and did not stand for election to a full term. In this report, those Senators are counted as retiring. 3 In one instance since 1989, a Member was expelled from the House pursuant to H.Res. 495, 107th Congress, adopted on July 24, 2002. Congressional Research Service 1 Leaving Congress: House of Representatives and Senate Departures Data, 1989-2020 Table 2. House of Representatives Departures Data, 101st-116th Congresses Complete- Cong. Total In-Term Term Resigned Died Retired Defeated Other Departures Departures Departures Office 101st 51 12 39 9 3 15 14 10 102nd 117 10 107 7 3 51 46 10 103rd 89 9 80 6 3 28 36 16 104th 73 9 64 8 1 32 24 8 105th 46 9 37 5 4 21 8 8 106th 42 4 38 1 3 20 10 8 107th 59 10 49 5 4 22 17 10 108th 41 6 35 6 0 17 9 9 109th 56 8 48 7 1 15 24 9 110th 64 13 51 6 7 25 21 5 111th 106 13 93 12 1 19 58 16 112th 87 8 79 7 1 25 40 14 113th 78 7 71 6 1 24 19 28 114th 60 9 51 7 2 25 12 14 115th 104 16 88 15 1 32 39 17 116th 64 11 53 8 3 28 22 3 Average 71 10 61 7 2 25 25 12 Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, https the 101^st Congress. Detailed information regarding 113^th Congress departures is available at http://www.crs.gov/resources/Pages/Congress_113_departures.aspx.

The data provided in this report offer insight into the manner by which Members of Congress leave the House or Senate, and offer preliminary insight about some of the factors that may influence the turnover of membership in each chamber. At the same time, any conclusions based on these data should be drawn with care, since there do not appear to be patterns to Member departures. This may be due in part to the individualized nature of congressional careers, which might include numerous events or actions that could affect Members'’ decisions to end their congressional service. Author Information Jennifer E. Manning R. Eric Petersen Senior Research Librarian Specialist in American National Government Congressional Research Service 5 Leaving Congress: House of Representatives and Senate Departures Data, 1989-2020 Acknowledgments Parker H. Reynolds, formerly a staff member at CRS, coauthored an earlier version of this report. Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material. Congressional Research Service R41428 · VERSION 10 · UPDATED 6 congressional service.