A senior House Republican reportedly warned that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) shocking resignation is just the beginning, and predicted that what happens next could cost the GOP the majority even before next year’s midterm elections.
“More explosive early resignations are coming,” the unnamed figure told Punchbowl News on Monday. “It’s a tinder box. Morale has never been lower. Mike Johnson will be stripped of his gavel and they will lose the majority before this term is out.”
The source, described only as a senior House Republican, said the White House was treating GOP lawmakers “like garbage” and accused House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) of allowing it to happen.
“The arrogance of this White House team is off putting to members who are run roughshod and threatened,” the person said, adding that rank-and-file members “are more upset than ever.”
Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman added an update on X hours after posting the report:
Other Republican figures also see Greene’s resignation as a bad sign for the GOP, with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) calling her “almost like a canary in the coal mine” for the party.
“And this is something inside Congress, they’d better wake up because they’re gonna get a lot of people retiring,” McCarthy told Fox News.
Once one of Donald Trump’s most loyal foot soldiers, Greene has found herself facing his wrath lately, likely due at least in part to her calls for the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was once close friends with the president. Greene said she faced death threats after Trump labeled her a “traitor.”
Although Greene has long been one of the GOP’s biggest flamethrowers, she apologized last week for “taking part in the toxic politics” and urged people to be kinder to one another. Days later, she announced her plan to resign in January, which Trump hailed as “great news.”