Congress’ Most Vulnerable Members? Those Brave Enough to Work Across the Aisle

If you are a member of Congress willing to work with the other party, you already face the constant threat of a primary challenge from the left or right.

Now there’s even more evidence that being a bipartisan-oriented member of Congress can spell trouble at the ballot box.

Today, Punchbowl News reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released a list of 26 House Democrats it plans to target in 2026. This list includes many No Labels allies, such as Jared Golden (ME), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA), Don Davis (NC), Tom Suozzi (NY), Susie Lee (NV), and Vicente Gonzalez (TX) — all of whom have taken tough votes and cooperated across the aisle despite pressure from party leaders. It also includes 13 Democrats whose districts swung to Donald Trump in last year’s election.

Back in December, the House Majority PAC, aligned with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, unveiled its own list targeting 29 Republicans, including No Labels allies Don Bacon (NE), Mike Lawler (NY), and Rob Bresnahan (PA), all of whom have shown the same courage.

Let’s put a finer point on what this all means: The very best and most productive members of Congress face the greatest risk of losing their reelection in 2026. Meanwhile, the worst and most extreme — most of whom represent safely red or blue districts — will almost certainly be reelected.

Using congressional scorecards at govtrack.us, we can measure each member’s effectiveness by how many bipartisan bills they introduced last Congress. For instance, if a member introduced more bipartisan bills than 75 percent of the House, they rank in the 75th percentile.

The numbers tell a clear story. The median Republican targeted by Democrats ranks in the 73rd percentile for introducing bipartisan legislation during the last Congress. Democrats targeted by Republicans rank similarly high, at the 59th percentile. In other words, each party is intentionally targeting the members most likely to sit down and work constructively with the other side.

This targeted approach has real consequences. In 2024, Democrats targeted 62 House Republicans and successfully flipped 33 seats. Republicans were less successful, flipping only 7 of the 39 Democratic seats they targeted. But regardless of the outcome, the underlying message is clear: reaching across the aisle carries a serious risk of attracting millions of outside dollars spent to defeat you.

And the threats don’t just come from the opposing party. Lawmakers willing to cooperate across party lines are increasingly targeted by the extremes of their own party in primary elections. Consider former Reps. Kurt Schrader and Jaime Herrera Beutler — two members of the House Problem Solvers Caucus from the Pacific Northwest who were defeated in their 2022 primaries by more extreme candidates, who then lost in the general election.

This, in a nutshell, is why Congress is such a mess. Members who do the difficult, necessary work of building consensus should be rewarded, not punished. Poll after poll shows this is exactly what the American people want. If we want Congress to deliver solutions instead of endless partisan dysfunction, more Americans must stand with leaders who prioritize results over party loyalty.