One of the last normal Republicans just retired. What now?

Fred Upton’s retirement makes him the fourth Republican who voted to impeach Trump to step away from politics

(Getty Images)

Back in 2015, Republican Representative Fred Upton of Michigan denounced then-candidate Donald Trump’s proposal for a “total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the United States. This was back when plenty of Republicans (including Trump’s future running mate Mike Pence) considered the idea revolting. A few months later, as Trump began to clean up in primary races, Upton told reporters (including your dispatcher as a young cub writer) that “he’s getting more people to turn out than ever, so he’s well on his way”. When asked about his previous comments about Trump, he recalled some words from his grandfather: “Was you always perfect?”

Upton, who worked in the Reagan administration, was stuck between balancing the interests of his home state of Michigan, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in the US, with that of a party that was moving in Trump’s direction. But he said he would not endorse Trump, whom he considered “off-track”.

When Trump won the presidency, including in Michigan, Upton was a major holdout during the GOP’s attempt to repeal Obamacare. The White House had to include an amendment for high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions to cajole him into voting for it.

Upton continued that delicate dance in 2018 when Joe Biden delivered a paid speech at the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan and called him “one of the finest guys I’ve ever worked with”. The move infuriated Democrats, who were trying to knock off Upton at the time – and the New York Times noted how Biden was paid $20,000 for the speech – but knowing Biden, who prizes his relationships with Republicans and made them a selling point for his 2020 election, he probably didn’t need to be paid for the compliment. But the reality of the Biden presidency has shown that the sort of dance Upton danced in the past is now impossible, and the music has now stopped.

Upton voted to impeach Trump for his role in the January 6 raid on the Capitol; unlike Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, he mostly kept a low profile afterward, though he did vote to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection. He also voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, a position that exposed him to death threats after Trump opposed it. Trump endorsed Upton’s primary opponent; when Michigan’s redistricting commission put him in a member-on-member primary against incumbent Congressman Bill Huizenga, it ultimately proved the final straw, and Upton announced on Tuesday that he would not seek re-election.

Upton’s announcement makes him the fourth Republican who voted to impeach Trump to retire – along with Kinzinger, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, and John Katko of New York. In his farewell speech on the House floor, he complimented Democrats and Republicans equally, characteristic of a man whose departure shows just how impossible it is for people like him to survive in a much more radicalized party. And all the while, Republicans are losing people who actually know how to govern and who can actually accomplish major policy achievements with Democrats.