As one Republican who retired last year told me today: “What’s the point? How fulfilling is this job going to be if we don’t do anything? And it’s hard to run for office with someone on the ticket above you who’s doing everything he can to make life miserable for you. There’s no winning in that scenario.”

Republicans, of course, don’t voice this critique publicly for fear of getting in the cross-hairs of their base, which continues to overwhelmingly support the president. But the reality is that being in the minority is a whole lot less satisfying than controlling the chamber and the legislative agenda. A number of the soon-to-be retirees are also term-limited out of their powerful perches as the ranking members of House committees. That’s the reason the Republican House campaign arm gave for many of the departures, which a spokesman called “a healthy dose of turnover.”

But the decision by more than a dozen House Republicans not to run again points to other worrying trends for their party, suggesting that dreams of reclaiming control of the House are drifting further away. Record departures after the party lost control of the House in 2006 allowed Democrats to expand their majority two years later, providing a margin that helped President Barack Obama pass the health care bill.

This round of retirements includes two of the 13 Republican women in the House and the only African-American Republican, at a time when the party is trying to recruit more diverse candidates.

So many Texans have opted against running — nearly a quarter of the state’s delegation — that Democrats are calling the phenomenon a “Texosus,” saying the retirements demonstrate how the Lone Star State is shifting in their favor. At least three of the retiring Texans already faced tough re-election fights in narrowly Republican districts.