The 120th Congress is set to feature an unusually large number of new faces.
Ahead of the November elections, at least 83 incumbents across the U.S. House and the Senate won’t be returning to their seats.
Even now, the 119th Congress already looks different from when it began in January 2025, after a handful of resignations as well as deaths.
But the expected turnover at the end of the term will be even higher. The reasons vary: some members announced their retirement after decades of service, others have sought different offices. More than usual have lost primaries.
According to Ballotpedia, as of July, the number of lawmakers not seeking reelection is the highest since 2000.
According to a TIME analysis, as of Aug. 13, at least 70 sitting House representatives—30 Democrats and 40 Republicans—are not returning for another term. In the Senate, 13 incumbents also don’t plan to return next year, including one appointed this March, Sen. Alan Armstrong, to replace the seat vacated by now-Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. These counts do not include the 16 lawmakers who have resigned from or died during the 119th Congress.
With some primaries still underway, not to mention the November general elections in which every House seat and 35 Senate seats are up for a vote, the number of new faces expected in the upcoming Congress will only increase.
Here’s an overview of the lawmakers so far who won’t be returning in the next Congress.
Retirements
In the upper chamber, 10 Senators have announced their retirement. These include Republican stalwarts Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, whose recent health issues have raised questions of fitness for office, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, an intraparty critic of President Donald Trump. Sen. Armstrong, who took over the seat vacated by Mullin, has said he will serve only until the end of Mullin’s term, which ends in January. Joining them are Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. On the Democratic side, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota have also said they will retire.
In the lower chamber, 32 sitting representatives—or almost half of those not seeking reelection—are retiring. Among them is Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.).
Read More: The Colossal, Unexpected Career of Nancy Pelosi
Others who have announced their retirement are Reps. Mark Amodei (R, Nev.), Jodey Arrington (R, Texas), Don Bacon (R, Neb.), Julia Brownley (D, Calif.), Vern Buchanan (R, Fla.), Steve Cohen (D, Tenn.), Danny Davis (D, Ill.), Lloyd Doggett (D, Texas), Neal Dunn (R, Fla.), Chuck Edwards (R, N.C.), Dwight Evans (D, Pa.), Darrell Issa (R, Calif.), Chuy García (D, Ill.), Jared Golden (D, Maine), Sam Graves (R, Mo.), Steny Hoyer (D, Md.), Barry Loudermilk (R, Ga.), Michael McCaul (R, Texas), Morgan Luttrell (R, Texas), Jerry Nadler (D, N.Y.), Troy Nehls (R, Texas), Dan Newhouse (R, Wash.), Burgess Owens (R, Utah), Jan Schakowsky (D, Illinois), Elise Stefanik (R, N.Y.), Marc Veasey (D, Texas), Nydia Velázquez (D, N.Y.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, N.J.), Daniel Webster (R, Fla.), Frederica Wilson (D, Fla.), and Ryan Zinke (R, Mont.).
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D, D.C.), a non-voting member of the House, is also set to retire.
Resignations
The 119th Congress also saw several resignations.
Mike Waltz was reelected for a fourth term as representative of Florida’s 6th district in 2024 but resigned from the 119th Congress days after it opened to join the Trump Administration, first as national security adviser, then as U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Mikie Sherrill, who represented New Jersey in the House since 2019, resigned from the chamber in November 2025 after winning the state’s gubernatorial election.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a MAGA stalwart who represented Georgia, left office earlier this year amid a dramatic fallout with President Trump, and Mark Green, a Republican who represented Tennessee, left in 2025 in what he said was a “business decision.”
Other resignations were mired in ethics-related scandals: former Reps. Eric Swalwell (D, Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R, Texas) abruptly left office amid threats of expulsion due to sexual misconduct allegations, while Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D, Fla.) also quit amid questions about her campaign finances.
Deaths
Five House representatives died during the 119th Congress: Rep. Gerry Connolly (D, Va.) at age 75, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D, Ariz.) at 77, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R, Calif.) at 65, Rep. David Scott (D, Ga.) at 80, and Rep. Sylvester Turner (D, Texas) at 70.
The lone Senator to have died in office this Congress was Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican fixture in the Capitol since 1995 and a Trump critic-turned-ally until his death in July at age 71.
Seeking other office
Twenty-eight members of Congress—27 representatives and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R, Ala.)—announced that they were giving up their current seats to pursue another office. So far, 13, including five Democrats and eight Republicans, have lost those campaigns for new offices in primaries.
Six Republican House members have secured the Republican nomination for seats in the upper chamber: Andy Barr in Kentucky, Ashley Hinson in Iowa, Barry Moore in Alabama, Mike Collins in Georgia, Julia Letlow in Louisiana, and Kevin Hern in Oklahoma. Other Senate aspirants fell short: Rep. Buddy Carter lost to Collins in the Georgia primary, while Rep. Wesley Hunt (R, Texas) lost the Texas primary to state attorney general Ken Paxton.
Three other GOP representatives—Arizona’s Andy Biggs, Michigan’s John James, Wisconsin’s Tom Tiffany—as well as Tuberville have secured their party’s nominations in their respective gubernatorial races. Reps. David Schweikert (R, Ariz.), Dusty Johnson (R, S.D.), John Rose (R, Tenn.), Nancy Mace (R, S.C.), and Randy Feenstra (R, Iowa) lost their gubernatorial primaries. Rep. Chip Roy (R, Texas) also lost the Republican primary runoff for state attorney general.
On the Democratic side, several House members have lost Senate bids to progressives. In Minnesota’s Democratic Senate primary, moderate Rep. Angie Craig was defeated by Peggy Flanagan. And in Michigan’s expensive Senate primary, Rep. Haley Stevens narrowly lost to Abdul El-Sayed. In Illinois, Democratic Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly lost the Senate primary to Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who had the backing of Gov. J.B. Pritzker. In Texas, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who announced her run for Senate after a Republican-led redistricting push placed her residence out of her existing district, ultimately lost in the Democratic primary to state representative James Talarico.
No Democratic lawmakers seeking other office have won their primaries so far, though some departing congressmembers on both sides are still awaiting primaries. On Aug. 18, Trump-endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds (R, Fla.) will compete for Florida’s Republican gubernatorial nomination, and Trump-endorsed Rep. Harriet Hageman (R, Wyo.) will seek the Republican nomination for Lummis’s seat. On Aug. 25, Rep. Ralph Norman (R, S.C.), who entered the special election for Graham’s seat after losing the state’s gubernatorial primary, will face Graham’s sister interim-Sen. Darline Graham, who has received Trump’s endorsement. On Sept. 1, moderate Rep. Seth Moulton (D, Mass.) will challenge 80-year-old progressive Sen. Ed Markey in a competitive primary. The final primary contest comes on Sept. 8 in New Hampshire, where Rep. Chris Pappas is favored to win the Democratic nomination for retiring Sen. Shaheen’s seat, potentially setting up a key battleground in the general election.
Reelection primary losses
Twelve incumbents lost their party’s nomination while seeking reelection, an unusually high count with several primaries still to go. House incumbents historically win more than 98% of the time when they seek another term. The 10 House losses so far already exceed the average of 6.5 per cycle since World War II. Seven Democratic incumbents have lost their primaries so far, already tying with 2012 for the most Democratic House incumbent defeats this century.
Democratic primaries have been shaped by a progressive revolt against the party establishment. Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, both endorsed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, respectively defeated incumbent Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat. In Michigan, state representative Donavan McKinney, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, unseated Rep. Shri Thanedar. In Colorado, 29-year-old democratic socialist Melat Kiros toppled 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette for the party nomination. Democrats are favored to win all four races, according to Cook Political Report.
In a campaign centered more on generational change than ideological difference, 47-year-old former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin beat 78-year-old, 14-term Rep. John Larson to secure the nomination in Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District earlier this week.
Other Democratic races took place amid a broader redistricting push. In Texas, new Republican-drawn maps pitted 78-year-old Rep. Al Green against 38-year-old freshman Rep. Christian Menefee, the latter of whom ended up winning their primary runoff for a Houston-area district. Also in Texas, Rep. Julie Johnson, whose 32nd district was redrawn to favor Republicans, ran instead in the 33rd district, where she lost in the primary runoff to former Rep. Colin Allred.
Republican primaries, meanwhile, have appeared largely to be tests of loyalty to Trump. In Texas, Trump-endorsed Paxton beat four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the most expensive Senate primary in history. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R, La.), whose vote to convict Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack became a defining issue in his race, also lost renomination after he failed to advance to the runoff, which was ultimately won by Trump-endorsed Rep. Letlow.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R, Ky.) and Dan Crenshaw (R, Texas) also lost their reelection bids. Massie lost to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein after repeatedly criticizing the President over his foreign policy moves, federal spending, and the Epstein files. Crenshaw, who criticized Trump over the Capitol attack and supported aid to Ukraine, lost to conservative Texas state representative Steve Toth.
In a rare defeat for a Trump-endorsed incumbent, Rep. Andy Ogles (R, Tenn.) lost the Republican primary to Charlie Hatcher, who benefited from a redrawn, more rural district and heavy outside spending from a clean-energy super political action committee.
