Former President Donald Trump issued scorching remarks to a group of GOP representatives who resigned from their seats this year.
The resignations have whittled down an already thin Republican majority in the House, leaving tense uncertainty over control of the chamber.
“Never forget our cowards and weaklings! Such a disgrace,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
He was responding to an article about Representative Mike Gallagher (WI), who is the latest to announce an early departure. Gallagher’s vacancy will bring the House GOP majority down to just one single seat.
His announcement was met with scorn from the party as he appeared to time it to coincide with a Wisconsin law to avoid a special election, which guarantees his seat will remain empty until January 2025.
Gallagher remained firm in his decision to resign even as House GOP leadership urged him to stay, with a source telling the Washington Examiner that leadership met with Gallagher “throughout this process, including before this decision was announced and his departure date was agreed upon.”
He blamed the GOP’s recent internal strife for his resignation.
“I think that the fact that we have so many lifers and careerists in this institution is why it’s so dysfunctional, and that the framers, when they created the Constitution and this country, had in mind that you would embark on a season of service and then return to private life,” he said.
He was also one of three Republicans to vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
As more members choose to resign early, some who remain are speculating that an extreme scenario may play out in which Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, is named speaker as Republicans revolt against current Speaker Mike Johnson.
Johnson has most recently incurred the wrath of some conservative hardliners for preparing to bring another Ukraine aid bill to the floor.
Time we face up to the fact the Republican Party has been infiltrated by non republicans. This, much like our government, looks like it is an organized plan to destroy from within.
We need to fix this temporary set back by kicking the Democrats and RINOS out of the House AND Senate this November. The Senate is not going to pass anything until then anyway.