GOP House committee chair abandons politics for cushy private sector job

Rep. Mark Green, (R-TN), center, is joined by from left: Rep. Jason Smith, (R-MO), Rep. Jim Jordan, (R-OH), and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, during a news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Washington

House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) announced on Monday that he's going to resign from Congress in order to take an ostensibly more lucrative job in the private sector—a move that will narrow the GOP majority until a special election can be held to fill his seat.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from Congress," Green said in a statement on Monday. "Recently, I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up. As a result, today I notified the Speaker and the House of Representatives that I will resign from Congress as soon as the House votes once again on the reconciliation package."

Resigning from Congress mid-term has become more common in recent years, as rancor and hardened partisanship has made it a miserable experience. In fact, Green had announced he was retiring from Congress in 2024 because of how awful a place the House is. Green then reversed course and ran for reelection, only to up and quit, abandoning his constituents before his two-year term expired.

Green's seat should stay Republican in a special election. President Donald Trump carried Green's district by 22 points in November, according to data compiled by the Downballot.

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However, Green's district is roughly as Republican as Rep. Elise Stefanik's upstate New York seat, which Trump was so afraid Republicans could lose that he pulled her nomination as ambassador to the United Nations. 

If Green's district sees as large of a swing toward Democrats as two previous House special elections in Florida saw in April, the seat could flip.

Of course, that is a big if. Candidate quality will matter, as will the dynamics of how popular—or rather unpopular—Trump and the GOP’s agenda of slashing the social safety net for a handout for the rich will be when the special election is held.

But don’t sleep on this race.