According to a person familiar with the matter, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green's (R-TN) intention to retire at the conclusion of his term is being reconsidered, as revealed to the Washington Examiner.
Less than two weeks after the Republican from Tennessee stated he would not seek reelection, Green is reportedly rethinking his plans to resign, as The Washington Examiner reported.
A second source informed the Washington Examiner that Green has been pressured not to retire by several members of the Tennessee delegation, notably Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), which has led to the reversal.
After much thought and after realizing he had achieved his campaign promises, Green informed the Washington Examiner on February 14th that he would not be seeking reelection.
“It’s pretty clear that the founders, the framers of the Constitution at least, intended the people’s representatives to serve for a season and then go home,” Green said in an interview.
“We’re not intended to be here to grow old in Congress. So there’s that constitutional piece that really kind of honestly probably is what pushed me over the edge.”
Following the historic decision to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, which was led by the House Homeland Security Committee, Green announced the news that he would be retiring.
The conclusion of the struggle that had been going on for several months was a contributing factor in Green's decision to resign at the conclusion of his term.
During the course of the investigation into Mayorkas, Green stated that he spent a significant portion of his time analyzing the Constitution in order to charge the official working for the Biden administration with high crimes and misdemeanors. He described this as the zenith of his professional career.
It would not be the first time that a Republican would change their mind about retiring from the House of Representatives.
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) had made a similar maneuver when she announced her intention to run for reelection last month, despite having stated that she would retire a year earlier.
Already, more than forty incumbents in the House of Representatives have declared their intention to not run for reelection in 2024. This represents one of the highest retirement rates at this juncture in an election cycle throughout the course of the previous decade.
According to a list that was created by the House Press Gallery, this number includes 21 Republicans who have declared that they will not compete for another term, as well as 23 Democrats.
The number of retirements is getting closer, but it has not yet reached the total number of members that resigned from their positions in 2018, which was 52 altogether.
When 65 members decided not to compete for reelection in 1993, that was the year that saw the highest number of incumbents retire from their positions ever recorded.
