Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has warned that more Republicans may follow Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s lead and leave Congress.
Speaking to Fox News’ Jesse Watters, McCarthy said Greene is a “canary in a coal mine” for the GOP following her shock announcement that she will resign in January after her high-profile fallout with President Donald Trump.
“She’s leaving Congress, but I don’t think that’s the end you’ll see of her,” McCarthy said. “I’ve always believed that anytime you have an elected official that’s known by three initials, they’re effective at what they do.
“But she’s almost like a canary in a coal mine,” he added. “And this is something inside Congress they better wake up to, because they’re going to get a lot of people retiring, and they’ve got to focus.”
McCarthy also lamented that the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown meant the GOP was “losing two months of the majority” in what is widely expected to be a two-year stint in control of the House.
Greene, a former Trump loyalist who has become increasingly critical of the president for abandoning his “America First” agenda and his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, announced last week she would leave Congress on January 5, 2026.
In her video statement, Greene said she is leaving office early so her district would not have to “endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me” initiated by Trump. She also said she did not want to fight and win re-election in Georgia’s 14th congressional district—which she was widely expected to do—while the Republican Party overall would “likely lose the midterms.”
Historically, the ruling party suffers substantial losses in midterm elections, and the GOP is expected to lose control of the House next November, given its razor-thin majority in the lower chamber.
The GOP currently holds 219 seats in the House to the Democrats’ 213. The majority could shrink further after Greene’s resignation and the results of three special elections between December and April. The date of the special election to replace Greene in the solid-red Georgia district has not yet been confirmed, but is expected in the spring.
However, multiple House Republicans are reportedly considering leaving office early, which could cause the GOP to lose its majority before the midterms.
“More explosive early resignations are coming. It’s a tinderbox. Morale has never been lower,” one unnamed senior House Republican told Punchbowl. “Mike Johnson will be stripped of his gavel, and they will lose the majority before this term is out.”
The lawmaker added that House Republicans are growing tired of being treated like “garbage” by the White House, and that House Speaker Mike Johnson has “let it happen.”
Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman posted on X that after the quotes were published online, he received “countless text messages” from House Republicans agreeing with the sentiment about leaving office early.
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