OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Another top Democrat is resigning from Congress.
Kentucky Democrat Rep. John Yarmuth announced late on Tuesday that he will retire at the end of his term in 2023.
Yarmuth, who has been in Congress for 15 years, serves as chair of the powerful House Budget Committee.
“At the time, I simply wanted to stop the Bush agenda by helping flip control of the House of Representatives to Democrats,” Yarmuth said in the video posted to his Twitter account.
“After every election, I was asked how long I intended to serve, and I never had an answer. Today, I do. This term will be my last,” Yarmuth said.
“Truth be told, I never expected to be in Congress this long. I always said I couldn’t imagine being here longer than 10 years” he said in a video announcing his retirement. “After every election, I was asked how long I intended to serve, and I never had an answer. Today, I do. This term will be my last.”
“We can still do much more for the American people. And since that progress will unfortunately not be done on a bipartisan basis, my chairmanship of the House Budget Committee puts me in a pivotal position to help build an even better future for our citizens,” the representative said.
It's been an incredible journey since my first campaign in 2006 until now. I will continue to fight for Louisville in Washington for another 15 months, and then, I will retire from Congress.
I will have plenty more to say in the months ahead but this is what I want you to know: pic.twitter.com/MXFmWrSTYv
— Rep. John Yarmuth (@RepJohnYarmuth) October 12, 2021
Republicans are now “the early favorites,” to retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer is very confident that Republicans will take back the U.S. House of Representatives next year.
Emmer said Republicans are going to retire House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once and for all.
“If you sit back and be quiet, you’re not gonna be happy with what these socialist Democrats are gonna do to our country, cause this is no longer a choice between a degree of freedom — the right of someone to self-determine versus the size and scope of government — this is literally a choice between two fundamentally different views of the United States of America. On one side, the socialists, they wanna make all the decisions for you. On the other side, we still believe in free markets and the right of people to achieve their American dream on [sic] by hard work and playing by the rules,” he said.
Cook Political Report Senior Editor David Wasserman told NBC News that Republicans are poised to retake the lower chamber for a variety of reasons.
“Based on all factors, you’d have to consider Republicans the early favorites for the House majority in 2022,” Wasserman said.
“But as we found out in 2020, surprises can happen, and it’s not a done deal,” he added. “Democrats’ best hope is that Biden’s approval rating stays above 50% and that Republicans have a tougher time turning out their voters without Trump on the ballot.”
Last month, a top House Democrat warned that the Republican Party is in a prime position to take back House in next year’s midterm elections.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick, who serves as a congressman from New York, says Democrats would lose their House majority if the midterms were held today.
Speaking with Politico, Tim Persico, executive director of the Maloney-led DCCC, shared data with incumbents showing that several House Democrats are at risk of losing their seats to Republican challengers.
Republicans need a net gain of 5 seats to regain the House majority in the midterms next November.
And the once-in-a-decade redistricting process – pegged to the 2020 census – is expected to generally favor Republicans over Democrats.
