(CNN) Dramatic announcements from Sens. Bob Corker and Jeff Flake that they will retire at the end of their terms makes it seem like the Senate is poised for a mass exodus.

But relative to other Senates in history, this Congress is not retiring quickly. If no other senators retire, which is possible, it will be one of only four election cycles since 1914 when only two incumbent senators decided to retire instead of seeking another term.

The real retirement action to date is happening in the House, where Republicans are leaving at a faster clip than any recent years. So far, 18 Republican members have announced retirements and three have resigned, compared with 10 retirements and resignations on the Democrat side. The combined 28 retirements outpace the last several Congresses, with the pace of Republican retirements tipping things over from business as usual to unusual.

Alarmed, in early September House members were talking about how to stop the bleeding. "We've got to find better ways to empower people where they feel like this is worth their time," Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, a former two-term National Republican Congressional Committee chair who met with several members to discuss retirements, told the National Journal . A few weeks later, Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania announced he would resign after the scandal resulting from an extramarital affair engulfed his office.

NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers has said that the number of House retirements is below the historic average. But that's only true if an incomplete count is made, leaving out those who say they want to leave their office for other political ambitions. When those members are included and compared against the same data from recent years, the rate of departures is historically high. At this time ahead of the 2016 election cycle, six Republican seats were open. Today, 18 are.

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