Republican Representative Mark Green, the chair of the Homeland Security Committee in the House, announced this week that he would be retiring from Congress.
In making the announcement Wednesday, Green said he wanted to “go out with a win,” following the impeachment of Aljeandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
As Green said to reporters outside the Capitol building:
“I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do. I wanted to get a great border security bill done. We did that, and I wanted to hold the administration accountable and we just impeached for the first time a sitting Cabinet secretary.”
When the House impeached Mayorkas by a one-vote margin, it marked the first time that a Cabinet official has been impeached since the 1870s.
As Green said:
“I’ve learned being here that the fight isn’t in Washington. I think the fight is with Washington.”
Green will remain in Congress until the end of the current session. This was the first term in which he served as chair of the Homeland Security Committee.
During his time as chair, he prioritized investigating the actions of the Department of Homeland Security, zeroing in on Mayorkas himself.
While he eventually succeeded in impeaching Mayorkas, it took two tries to do so. In the first attempt, three Republicans and all Democrats joined together to vote against the resolution.
Those who voted against the effort at first said they were concerned that the GOP in the House was abusing its impeachment power, and didn’t meet the standards that the Constitution has outlined for the process.
The second vote only succeeded in impeaching Mayorkas only once Representative Steve Scalise, the majority leader in the House, returned to Congress after his blood cancer treatment.
With Mayorkas now impeached, the House will select impeachment officials who will present their case to the Senate. However, it’s likely not going to go anywhere at all, since Democrats hold the majority in Congress’ upper chamber.
That being said, the simple fact that the House was able to impeach Mayorkas at all has to be considered a win for Green, who is sure to take that event with him as a victory.
The 59-year-old was first elected to Congress to represent the 7th Congressional District of Tennessee back in 2018.
Green is now the fourth Republican chair who has announced their retirement. The Cook Political Report lists his district as “solid Republican,” though, so it shouldn’t be a concern that the seat might flip.
In making his retirement announcement, Green didn’t mention what his future plans might be. He didn’t say whether he might consider running for a different office, such as governor in Tennessee, which is up for election in 2026.
When he spoke with media outlet The Hill, all he would say is that he was going to volunteer for the presidential campaign for Donald Trump.
He commented:
“I’m going to go help Donald Trump win the presidency.”
