Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher will leave the House next month, reducing the Republican majority to just one vote.
The chairman of the China Select Committee announced earlier this year that he will retire at the end of his term in Congress, following backlash for his vote against impeaching the Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.
“After discussions with my family, I have made the decision to resign,” Gallagher said in a statement. ‘Effective from April 19.’
Gallagher, 39, has been in Congress since 2017. He shares two young daughters with his wife.
The policy-oriented, pragmatic conservative joins a slew of high-level retirees among the Republican ranks of the House of Representatives after a term in Congress marred by chaos.
Shortly after Gallagher’s announcement, Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced she would step down as chair. She has already announced that she will not seek re-election next term.
Friday was Colorado Rep. Ken Buck’s last day after an early resignation, making him the fifth Republican this year to run early or face expulsion in the case of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y.
On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., launched a new movement to impeach the speaker and filed a motion against Mike Johnson.
Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher will leave the House next month, reducing the Republican majority to just one vote
It is unclear whether she will force a vote on it in the House of Representatives, but Gallagher’s departure puts Johnson’s presidency in jeopardy.
If there is a vote on an eviction motion and all Democrats vote to remove the chairman, as they did last time, only one Republican needs to join them for the motion to pass.
But some Democrats have indicated they may not vote for the motion, especially if Speaker Mike Johnson puts Ukraine aid on the House agenda. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., told reporters Friday that he would not vote to take over the gavel from Johnson.
Gallagher’s announcement comes on the heels of a historic moment: The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill that would force TikTok parent company ByteDance to divest or otherwise ban the Chinese video-sharing app.
Gallagher told the Milwaukee News Sentinel lThis month, he would continue working on national security issues after Congress, with a mission to “prevent World War III.”
“I have committed myself to restoring conventional deterrence to prevent war with China, and so everything I do next will be an extension of that mission.”
