Rep. Mike Gallagher is departing in April.
Republicans are going to see their majority in the U. S. House of Representatives narrow even further, as Rep. Mike Gallagher ( R- Wis. ) is departing Congress soon.
Mr. Gallagher, 40, the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, became the latest Democratic to reveal an early retirement, saying on March 22 that he will keep the lower room on April 19.
Mr. Gallagher did not identify a cause for the determination, which he said came after meetings with his community. A telephone call to his Washington office went right to voice.
Republicans currently have 219 seats in the House, but Rep. Ken Buck ( R- Colo. ) has said he is stepping down after Friday.
The resignations of Mr. Buck and Mr. Gallagher may keep the GOP with 217 tickets.
Democrats already have 213 tickets.
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The thin majority looming for Republican means they can obtain a second departure to pass costs without Democrat support.
Because of the schedule of the pension, no particular election will be held for Mr. Gallagher’s chair. Wisconsin law requires a resignation to take place before the next Tuesday in April in order for a particular vote to take place.
” This is calculated. Gallagher was left then, and allow his safe Democratic seat to become filled quickly. Rather, he is deliberately leaving on a timetable that did leave it empty until November, leaving the GOP majority also smaller and making a Democrat House invasion a true possibility”, Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, wrote on X.
Mr. Gallagher said he “worked closely” with House Republican leaders on the timeline for his retirement and that Speaker Mike Johnson ( R- La. ) may appoint a new head of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Speaker
Mr. Johnson has not yet reacted to the statement.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise ( R- La. ) told CNN that the approaching exit shows a need to consolidate.
” It is difficult with a five- chair majority, it is difficult with a two seats, one will be the same. We all have to labor up”, Mr. Scalise said. ” We have to join if we are going to get stuff done, we have proven with expenses like our energy costs, our border security costs and some of the other great things we have done we can come together and get things done for hard working families”.
Mr. Gallagher voted for the spending package, and was one of just three Republicans to recently vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, enabling Mr. Mayorkas to remain in his position amid a crisis at the U. S. Mexico border. U. S. border officials said Friday that agents recorded nearly 190, 000 encounters with illegal immigrants in February at the border, a number that does not include illegal immigrants who evade authorities.
Mr. Johnson became speaker in October 2023, after Republicans ousted Mr. McCarthy from the leadership post.
Mr. Gallagher has represented Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District since 2017, after fighting in the Iraq War. He won re- election in 2022 with 72 percent of the vote. Mr. Gallagher had announced previously he would not seek another term.
” The Framers intended citizens to serve in Congress for a season and then return to their private lives”, he said in February. ” Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old. And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re- election. Thank you to the good people of Northeast Wisconsin for the honor of a lifetime”.
Mr. Gallagher also said before that he wanted to spend more time with his family. He has several children.
Mr. Gallagher said Friday that his office would keep providing services to constituents until the remainder of the term, which ends in early 2025.
Recent Resignations
Other members who have recently retired include Reps. Bill Johnson ( R- Ohio ) and Kevin McCarthy ( R- Calif. ).
The resignations of Mr. Buck and Mr. Gallagher will leave the House with five vacancies.
The special election to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Brian Higgins ( D- N. Y. ) is slated to take place on April 30.
The race to fill the seat Mr. McCarthy held is advancing to a runoff in May between state Assemblyman Vince Fong, a Republican, and either Republican Tulare County Mike Boudreaux or Democrat candidate Marisa Wood.
The race to replace Mr. Johnson is down to Democrat Michael Kripchak and Republican Michael Rulli. The general special election is n’t until June.
