Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) suddenly announced his resignation from Congress and it created a nightmare situation for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Gallagher will leave his post with his resignation effective April 19 and he issued the following statement saying, "I've worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline and look forward to seeing Speaker Mike Johnson appoint a new chair to carry out the important mission of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party."
However, the important part here is that Gallagher will leave his post after April 9, which is the deadline before a special election would have to be held.
With him leaving after that deadline, his seat will remain empty for the rest of the term.
However, that isn't the real issue as his district is solidly red and won't be taken by Democrats anytime soon. The greater problem is that the GOP now only boasts a one-vote majority in the House of Representatives.
Speaker Johnson has had a horrific few months and Gallagher didn't help much with his resignation.
Talk of removing Johnson from his post has spiked with the disastrous state of the Republican House delegation.
Johnson was supposed to bring unity and functionality after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's disastrous reign. Johnson's time has been little better and after the expectations Republicans had for him, his tenure has arguably been worse.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) officially called for Johnson to be removed as the House Speaker following the passage of a trillion-dollar funding bill that did nothing to fix America's disastrous finances.
What's worse, that bill included no major policy improvements that Republicans wanted to enact meaning that once again Democrats got everything they wanted while Republicans got nothing.
The Republican Party is in tatters and many Representatives are doing their best to keep the ship upright.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) reacted to Gallagher's decision to resign by saying, "It’s tough, but it’s tough with a five-seat majority, it’s tough with a two-seat majority, one is going to be the same. We all have to work together. We’re all going to have to unite if we’re going get some things done."
How much longer can Speaker Johnson justify being the leader of the House GOP when his performance has been so disastrous?
Johnson was supposed to bring change and fight the Democrat Party and he has done the opposite. Nothing has changed and conservative voters have become even more disillusioned with the party.
