Republicans barely have a majority before the 2024 election, and this is cause for concern the GOP as they look to expand their political influence. When Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher (R) announced that he would be leaving Congress on April 19th, there was swift Republican backlash. Responding to Gallagher's exit, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds (R) believes that Rep. Gallagher has the responsibility to "finish the job" he was elected to do before leaving.
Rep. Gallagher, who is currently serving as the Chairman of the House Select Committee on China, made the announcement last month that he would not be seeking reelection. Last week, he further clarified that his last day in Congress would be April 19th. With his exit, the House GOP conference is left with a decidedly slim majority. This has resulted in Republicans calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) to expel him from Congress to allow for a special election. According to Wisconsin election law, a special election can be conducted to fill a vacancy if it takes place before the first Tuesday in April of an election year.
During an interview with Newsmax, Rep. Donalds commented on the situation with Rep. Gallagher, denouncing his decision to not finish his term as he was elected to do, saying that "leaving in the middle of your term is a serious, serious matter."
If you are going to run for office, you have a responsibility to your constituents to stay & finish the job until the end of your term.
We will get through this & in November WE WILL:
🇺🇸Increase our House majority
🇺🇸Retake the Senate
🇺🇸Elect Donald Trump as our 47th President pic.twitter.com/UhtzGhfsqQ— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) March 26, 2024
"There have been some members on Capitol Hill who are basically just throwing up their hands. I think that's wrong. I think that if you're gonna run for office, you have a responsibility to your district to stay and finish that job until the end of your term and then make another decision," he expressed.
However, though Republicans face the threat of losing the House, the Florida lawmaker remains hopeful.
"We're gonna get through this like we've gotten through everything else. Then, we're gonna move on to the November election... at the end of the day, even though our numbers have dwindled over the last couple of months, it is far better than if Hakeem Jeffries was speaker of the house because you would have the most radical agenda being moved through Congress."
