Divorces are on the rise in DC – and it’s political

The trend could be linked to tensions over the upcoming presidential election, one lawyer says

The US Capitol building in Washington, DC. Divorce lawyers in the city say more and more couples are splitting up due to political differences (Getty Images)

Divorces are on the rise in the nation’s capital - and politics has everything to do with it, a new report reveals.

More and more couples in Washington DC are calling time on their marriages due to political differences, local attorneys told Axios DC this week.

Cheryl New and Jessica Markham, both divorce attorneys in the city, said they have seen an increase in splits attributed to political differences - regardless of whether the couple works in the political sphere or not.

“[It’s no longer] ‘Who do you want for president?’ It branches into many other areas of how you have to relate to your spouse,” New told Axios.

The trend could be linked to tensions over the upcoming presidential election, attorney Maria Simon also told the outlet. “As long as the country itself is in this position, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be magnified at a more micro level and impact people’s marriages,” Simon said.

In one case, New explained that she is representing a liberal client seeking a divorce from her husband who she believed was a moderate conservative. She sought a divorce after he started subscribing to more extreme right-wing beliefs, such as refusing to acknowledge the Jan 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Markham said she’s seen a similar trend. She told Axios that some of her clients have used their ex-partner’s social media posts reflecting “extreme pro-gun” attitudes or promoting “fake news and conspiracy theories” to win custody battles.

While many of these couples also have other issues, New said that political differences can be the final straw.

The US Capitol building in Washington, DC. Divorce lawyers in the city say more and more couples are splitting up due to political differences (Getty Images)

“There were many straws before, but the camel was still hanging in there [before politics factored in],” New told Axios.

Overall divorce rates are down and marriage rates are up across the country, CNN reported earlier this year.

Yet divorce has become a major talking point for a number of GOP lawmakers. Several Republicans are advocating to end no-fault divorce - a law which exists in all 50 states that enables two people to split up without proving the other did something wrong.

Politicians, including former Trump cabinet member Ben Carson and House Speaker Mike Johnson, have called for an end to no-fault divorce, claiming the policy harms children and is “amoral,” NBC News reports.

Donald Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, has also said that divorces are too easy to obtain in the US.

“This is one of the great tricks that I think the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace, which is the idea that, like, ‘Well, okay, these marriages were fundamentally, they were maybe even violent, but, certainly, they were unhappy, and so getting rid of them and making it easier for people to shift spouses like they change their underwear, that’s going to make people happier in the long term,’” Vance said in 2021.

But others say that the no-fault divorce is a key policy in preventing domestic abuse and protecting children.

“No-fault divorce is critical to the ability, particularly the ability of women, to be able to exercise autonomy in their own relationships, in their own lives,” Denise Lieberman, professor at the Washington University School of Law, told The Guardian in June.

The absence of no fault divorce laws would make it “hard to prove anything in court relating to a family because you don’t have any witnesses,” according to Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

“It’s very difficult to get evidence to show abuse of children,” Wehle told The Guardian. “How do you do it? Do you put your kids on the stand?”