Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) is hanging up his congressional career, marking the end of another chapter in the slow extinction of Republicans who dared cross Donald Trump over January 6, 2021.
The 70-year-old congressman, who cast one of the most consequential votes of his political life by supporting Trump’s impeachment in 2021, announced he would not pursue another term representing his conservative district.
“This decision comes with no reservation or remorse, only gratitude,” Newhouse declared in his public statement. When pressed by reporters about whether Capitol Hill frustrations drove his exit, he brushed off such speculation. “None of us are here forever…and I think it’s time,” he offered simply.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the timing places Newhouse among an unusually large exodus from the House ahead of the 2026 cycle. Ballotpedia tracks 43 sitting members walking away from their seats, split between 23 Republicans and 19 Democrats, numbers that exceed comparable moments in past election cycles. The Senate shows eight retirements as well.
What makes Newhouse’s departure particularly significant is how rare his breed has become. Among the 10 House Republicans who voted to hold Trump accountable for the Capitol riot, only Newhouse and Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) remain standing in Congress today. The other eight met various political fates. Four, including the high-profile Liz Cheney, were crushed in primaries by Trump-backed challengers during the 2022 cycle. Another four chose retirement over facing Trump’s machinery.
The impeachment vote came in early 2021 after Trump supporters violently breached the Capitol on January 6. The Democratic House majority pushed through the impeachment, though like Trump’s previous impeachment roughly a year prior, the Senate declined to convict, falling short of the required two-thirds supermajority.
Trump made Newhouse pay a price for that impeachment vote during the 2024 campaign. The president threw his weight behind challenger Jerrod Sessler, branding Newhouse a “weak and pathetic RINO…who voted to, for no reason, impeach me.” Yet Newhouse managed to survive, defeating Sessler by roughly 6 points despite the presidential opposition. Sessler, who acknowledges being present at the Capitol on January 6 while denying participation in violence, plans another run at the now-open seat.
Newhouse’s explanation for his impeachment vote remains on the record. Voting against it, he argued at the time, would amount to “a vote to validate the unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation’s capital. It is also a vote to condone President Trump’s inaction….Our country needed a leader, and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office.”
The Washington congressman’s exit adds to mounting evidence that challenging Trump carries severe political consequences within today’s GOP. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) recently announced her resignation following a very public confrontation with the president. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) faces a primary threat after forcing a vote on Jeffrey Epstein files over Trump’s objections.
Valadao represents a competitive Bakersfield-area district that Democrats view as winnable. He has already filed paperwork for a 2026 reelection campaign.
Newhouse’s decision to walk away rather than fight another battle illuminates a fundamental truth about modern Republican politics. The party has been rebuilt in Trump’s image, and those who meaningfully oppose him discover their political futures grow increasingly bleak.
Whether through primary losses, mounting pressure, or voluntary exits like Newhouse’s, the pattern repeats itself. Loyalty to Trump has become the paramount test for Republican survival, and significant deviation from his orbit proves politically fatal.
