Retiring embattled Democrat Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) “hostile work environment” that is “getting worse,” as other Democrats complain about getting work done after the midterms, if the are in the minority.
After the nineteenth Democrat — Rep. Peter DeFazio — announced his retirement on Wednesday, Kind acknowledged that the atmosphere on Capitol Hill is not the best.
“Let’s face it: The atmosphere in this place — it’s a hostile work environment,” Kind told Politico. “We’ve got members threatening to kill other members and treating each other with such disrespect. …Things seem to be getting worse.”
While Kind talks about a “hostile work environment,” he announced his retirement after months of reporting of unearthed documents showing a company Kind had collected tens of thousands of dollars from in rent is a seedy massage parlor, has a history of soliciting on illicit websites known by police for offering sex.
In addition, the building that houses the seedy parlor business and the massage massage parlor tenants themselves were linked to sex trafficking and prostitution in the past. Breitbart News uncovered newspaper reports from the 1970s and 1980s that showed the building was known by law enforcement as a “house of prostitution.”
Not only have 19 Democrats decided to call it quits on the House officially, but three of the retirees, such as DeFazio, are committee chairs — most of which are in battleground districts. This gives Republicans a chance to gain another seat, as strong Republican candidates are already running in most — if not all — of the 19 districts.
“If you’ve been here a long time, it gets old after a while,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), who’s been rumored to be eyeing the exit signs himself. “Especially with redistricting and the likelihood of us potentially losing the majority, a lot of folks … are looking at this as the high-water mark.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) complained to Politico that being in Congress, “especially” with a weak majority wherein Pelosi can not lose more than a handful of votes to pass her partisan agenda items, is “hard.” He said: “I’m a new chair. But I can tell you it’s hard, especially when you have smaller margins, trying to get things done… The climate here has changed.”
Longtime Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) conceded that after the midterms, Congress will not be as “exciting” as it is now, when they are passing partisan agenda items on near party line votes, if the Democrats end up in the minority. He said: “I mean, 2023 is not going to be as exciting as what we’re doing now…Even if we’re still in the majority.”
There are rumors of more Democrats abandoning ship in the coming weeks and months leading up to the midterms. In addition, there have been reports of Pelosi herself contemplating leaving elected office.
Democrats, who have already seen more than triple the number of members retire, have also received low poll numbers and lost to Republicans in generic ballots.
Numerous polls have shown Republicans beating Democrats in a generic ballot leading up to the election when respondents say who they would elect to represent them, as Democrats continue to pass partisan agenda items, such as the infrastructure package and the reconciliation bill. One generic poll from RealClearPolitics showed Republicans leading for the first time since 2014.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.
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