Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) on Monday said he plans to resign from Congress after the House holds a final vote on the party’s “big, beautiful bill,” giving up his seat as well as his leadership post on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Green said he has already lined up a job outside of Congress.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from Congress. Recently, I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up. As a result, today I notified the Speaker and the House of Representatives that I will resign from Congress as soon as the House votes once again on the reconciliation package,” Green said in a statement.
“Though I planned to retire at the end of the previous Congress, I stayed to ensure that President Trump’s border security measures and priorities make it through Congress. By overseeing the border security portion of the reconciliation package, I have done that. After that, I will retire, and there will be a special election to replace me.”
His decision to stay until the House gives the GOP’s tax cuts and spending package a final stamp of approval is a relief for Republican leadership, who are contending with a razor-thin majority and passed the same bill by a single vote last month.
Senate Republicans are planning to make a host of changes to the legislation, and the House is expected to hold a vote this summer on approving the revised bill.
It’s the second time Green has said he plans to resign.
Green said in February 2024 that he planned to resign from Congress, but he ultimately reversed course and kept his seat, saying he decided to seek reelection after encouragement from the public and President Trump.
The decision earned a muted response from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the Homeland Security panel’s ranking member.
“While he was only chair for a couple years, I join our colleagues in wishing him well in the private sector,” Thompson said in a statement.
Green’s resignation will leave the House with 219 Republicans and 212 Democrats, meaning the GOP can only afford to lose three votes and still pass party-line legislation, assuming all members are present the same dynamic that currently stands.
Green’s departure will open up a sought-after chair position on a panel that reviews much of Trump’s signature immigration policies.
Under former President Biden, Green was a vocal critic of the administration, holding numerous hearings focused on fentanyl deaths and bringing in parents who had lost children in deaths they deemed connected to immigration or the border.
Under Trump, the committee has held hearings focused on Biden-era immigration policies and budget issues as the White House pushes to vastly expand deportation operations.
Green, a physician, is also a veteran, and he served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was given the gavel after just two terms in Congress, and will leave during his fourth term.
