House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) speaks alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after the House passed budget reconciliation legislation at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025.
Francis Chung | POLITICO via AP Images
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., announced his official resignation from Congress on Friday, a move that was expected but one that could, at least for now, shrink Republicans’ already narrow majority in the House.
“To my constituents across Tennessee’s 7th District—thank you. The trust you put in me is humbling. I will look back fondly on my years of serving as your voice in Washington,” Green wrote in a post on X.
With his resignation, Republicans are down to a 219-212 majority in the House, at least until his seat in the solidly red district is filled.
His resignation will be effective July 20, Fox News reports from a letter Green sent to House Republican leadership.
Green’s resignation is a blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s already narrow majority in the lower chamber, a fact that was on stark display this week as he was trying to pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
Johnson struggled to coalesce his conference around the megabill, and the narrow majority gave him little wiggle room for defections. With Green’s resignation, Johnson’s could face an even more challenging road ahead.
Green, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, said he was returning to the private sector to start his own business, but did not provide details about the business.
“While I cannot give the details here, I will be doing something specifically designed to help America compete against the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], but this time in business,” Green said in a video on X.
Green was elected to serve in Congress in 2018, succeeding Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
While his retirement has been expected — he said in June that he was stepping away from his role — it comes after Congress has experienced turnover among lawmakers in recent months, such as Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., who left his post to serve in the Trump administration, before he stepped down from that role.
Another Republican, Rep. Don Bacon, a centrist, also recently announced his retirement from Congress. Bacon’s retirement creates an opportunity for Democrats to win the House seat representing Bacon’s Omaha, Nebraska, district.