List of recent House members who resigned or died in 2025
Executive summary
At least three sitting House Democrats died in 2025 (Sylvester Turner, Raúl Grijalva and Gerry Connolly), and multiple House members across parties resigned during the year — notable Republican resignations included Mark Green and, later in the year, high‑profile GOP retirements and announced departures such as Marjorie Taylor Greene (who said she would resign in January) that contributed to a narrowing Republican majority (as low as 219–213 and briefly 218 seats) [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporting across outlets frames 2025 as an unusually active year for House exits: Punchbowl, Axios and Fox News counted “dozens” of departures or announced retirements, with more than 40 exits or planned exits reported by some outlets [5] [6] [7].
1. Deaths in office: a concentrated toll among House Democrats
Three prominent House Democrats who were serving in 2025 died in office: Sylvester Turner (D‑TX) in March, Raúl Grijalva (D‑AZ) in March, and Gerry Connolly (D‑VA) in May; outlets noted this cluster and its effect on House arithmetic and Democratic operations [1] [8] [9]. News coverage emphasized the demographic pattern: several recent congressional deaths have been Democrats in their 70s, feeding a debate about age and succession in the Democratic caucus [10] [11].
2. Resignations and vacancies: who left and how it changed the math
Republican Rep. Mark Green resigned effective July 20, 2025, to return to the private sector, a departure widely reported as shrinking Speaker Mike Johnson’s already narrow Republican margin [2]. New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill resigned Nov. 20 after winning her gubernatorial race, creating another vacancy and temporarily increasing the GOP edge to 219–213 [4]. Reporting later in November and December tracked further announced resignations (including Marjorie Taylor Greene’s planned January exit) that would reduce the GOP count even more [3] [12].
3. Scale and partisan tilt: a retirement wave, not just isolated moves
Multiple outlets characterized 2025 as a retirement and resignation wave. Axios and Punchbowl put the number of members leaving or announcing plans to leave at “dozens” — with Axios and Fox highlighting that well over 40 members had signaled exits (often retirements or bids for other office), and that Republican departures outpaced Democratic ones roughly 2‑to‑1 through the first 11 months [6] [5] [13]. Ballotpedia and 270toWin tallied dozens of incumbents not seeking reelection in 2026 and multiple special elections to fill vacancies [14] [4].
4. Political causes and interpretation: threats, infighting, ambition
Reporting lists several drivers behind the churn: threats to members’ safety, infighting and discipline fights in the chamber, frustration with leadership and many members pursuing statewide offices rather than re‑running for House seats [6] [7] [5]. Some outlets frame resignations as strategic career moves (many departing Republicans running for governor or Senate) while others stress morale and safety concerns as push factors [5] [6].
5. How vacancies reshape power: immediate and downstream effects
Journalists flagged immediate legislative consequences: narrow margins shifted with each departure, affecting the passage of major bills and leadership stability [2] [4]. Analysts warned that a spate of special elections and open‑seat contests could threaten the majority holder and alter committee compositions, especially where several deaths removed senior Democrats from key panels [10] [4].
6. Disputed narratives and what reporting doesn’t say
Some coverage highlights a partisan pattern in deaths (Business Insider and others noted several Democratic deaths since 2022), but available sources emphasize age demographics and do not offer firm causal claims that party affiliation causes higher mortality [11] [10]. Sources do not provide a definitive, comprehensive list of every 2025 resignation or death in a single roster; they offer partial tallies, spot reporting on high‑profile cases and aggregate estimates (“dozens,” “over 40”) [5] [6]. A fully enumerated, authoritative casualty list is available via the House Press Gallery but the provided snippet is dated and partial; the precise, up‑to‑date roster is not reproduced in these search excerpts [15] [1].
7. What to watch next
Follow special‑election calendars and state governor announcements (several governors set dates for fill‑in contests) and the House Press Gallery/Clerk for an official casualty and vacancy listing; media outlets continue to update tallies as resignations, deaths and retirement announcements accumulate [4] [15]. Expect more exits during the late‑November to December window historically associated with members deciding to depart, and more strategic runs statewide that will convert “retirements” into competitive open seats next cycle [13] [5].
Limitations: this analysis relies solely on the provided reporting excerpts; those sources offer strong signals about key deaths (Turner, Grijalva, Connolly) and named resignations (Green, Sherrill, announcements by Greene) and aggregate counts but do not present a single, complete, dated list of every House member who left in 2025 [1] [2] [4] [3].