Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for expelling Rep. Gallagher to force special election

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to either pressure outgoing Wisconsin GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher to leave office ahead of schedule or move to expel him so as to allow a special election to determine his replacement.

Gallagher on Friday announced that he would resign on April 19 and leave the GOP with a one-vote majority in the lower chamber. His timetable, however, would see him leave past the Wisconsin deadline for a mandatory special election, The Hill reported. Greene, for her part, suggested Johnson ought to force the issue and remove Gallagher so the GOP could regain the soon-to-be-lost seat.

"Speaker Johnson should be forcing Mike Gallagher to leave early so that his district can hold a special election, and any strong Republican Speaker of the House would expel a member for leaving our razor-thin majority in such a delicate, delicate state. We cannot allow — we cannot allow this," she said during a Sunday appearance on Fox News. "Speaker Johnson has also failed our majority because he is allowing Mike Gallagher to leave Congress after the deadline date where his district cannot hold a special election and elect a new representative for the rest of this entire Congress."

Gallagher's planned departure follows that of Colorado GOP Rep. Ken Buck, who left office on Friday after previously declaring he would not seek reelection. Buck had previously broken with the GOP on a number of issues, including the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Gallagher remained somewhat vague on his motivations when announcing his plans, saying he had had "conversations with my family" and that he had "worked closely with House Republican leadership in this timeline."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.