The already small House GOP majority is set to become even more fragile at the end of the year following former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announcement that he will resign from Congress at the end of the month.
McCarthy’s timeline means he will depart Congress before the Feb. 13 special election to replace expelled Rep. George Santos. Furthermore, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) announced he will be leaving Congress early next year to serve as president of Youngstown State University.
With three Republican lawmakers leaving Congress prematurely, House Republicans can only be able to afford to lose three GOP votes to pass any party-line legislation next year, at least until special elections are held.
Both McCarthy and Johnson are from red districts that will likely elect Republicans to take their place.
Following McCarthy’s announcement a frustrated Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) slammed the 105 Republicans who voted to expel Santos and the House Freedom Caucus whose members led the effort to oust McCarthy as Speaker.
“Well. Now in 2024, we will have a 1 seat majority in the House of Representatives,” Greene wrote in a post in Twitter. “Congratulations Freedom Caucus for one and 105 Rep who expel our own for the other. I can assure you Republican voters didn’t give us the majority to crash the ship.”
“Hopefully no one dies,” she added.
