The House Republican Conference is preparing to lose several top members at the end of this year, with both up-and-comers and veterans preparing to retire after months of turmoil.
Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry, RN.C., announced he will step down in December after serving 10 terms. And just this month, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.). Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.; and China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) all said they were completing their terms in Congress.
Doug Hay, a veteran Republican strategist, told Fox News Digital: “This is just a reflection of what a bad place to work Congress has become. And when you talk to members of Congress, they’re dissatisfied.” he said.
Hay said he was “not surprised” by McHenry’s resignation, noting that McHenry is at the end of House Republican conference rules that impose a three-term limit on top committee seats. But he called departures like Rodgers and Gallagher “shocker.”
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Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington; Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.; Some of the Republican officials resigning include China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.); (Getty Images)
”[Rodgers] There was still time to sit on it as a chair. Usually people don’t leave committees if they have time. “Gallagher was definitely seen as a real up-and-coming player,” he said.
John Feeley, a partner at EFB Advocacy who worked for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, said some of the outgoing Republican leaders likely won’t be enthusiastic about working for the incoming Trump administration. , said their successors in the House of Representatives are likely to take a different view. .
“I think the political impact now is that there were probably a lot of members who weren’t fully on board with MAGA. Their successors are going to be even more strongly pro-Trump,” Feeley said. Told. “I also think there’s just an overall frustration with Republicans not being able to actually win.”
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House Republicans have struggled to present a united front in much of the 118th Congress, primarily because their majority is so thin. Exposures of national divisions, including the removal of the party’s chairman from power in October, cast doubt on the party’s ability to hold onto the chamber.
Greene dismissed those concerns, telling Fox News Digital that she will continue to fight for Republican victories outside of Congress.
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) told Fox News Digital that he expects Republicans to maintain their majority. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“I’m not going to speak for anyone else, but I’m ready to continue the fight in a new capacity. Even if the Republican Party is in the minority next year, it will continue to do what it does best to protect the American people from evil.” “But I know from experience that this is difficult for minorities, and that’s why this election is so important,” Greene said.
Greene is leaving Congress after a “challenging, rewarding and meaningful” term as chair of the Homeland Security Committee.
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He said he is “hopeful” that Republicans will retain their majority next year, adding: “Americans are not asleep at the wheel. They feel the pressures of inflation and the effects of big government every day.” he added.
But Hay warned that if that happens, the ranks of Republican committee leadership could change significantly.
This Congress has seen historic levels of division, with a former House speaker being expelled for the first time in history. Kevin McCarthy was fired. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I think it’s going to be one of both. [establishment Republicans and hardliners]”However, most of the Republicans have never served in Congress before President Trump and will be new to this job,” Hay said. They’re still trying to figure out what the job is, but certainly… it’s their first time running the House. So it’s a challenge. Then there are people who don’t want to run the committee the way it should be run. And that causes problems.
“We are losing talented people who know how to do the job.”
Feeley suggested those committee positions would likely be filled by those closest to the House Republican leadership at the time.
“My feeling is that it’s the team players who have the best chance of becoming president,” he said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of McHenry, Rodgers and Gallagher.
