Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that he’s “very concerned” about the House Republican majority after multiple retirements and other departures have left the GOP with a slim majority in the lower chamber.
During an interview with “Newsline,” Donalds was asked about the recent spate of GOP retirements from the House, which will narrow the party’s “simple majority” to just a single seat.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., announced last week, just two months after he announced that he would not seek reelection, that he will step down from his office next month on April 19.
Donalds said he’s “very concerned about” Gallagher’s departure.
He added, “I’ve talked with Mike Gallagher, I’m not sure why he chose the day he’s choosing to leave, but it does put us in a bad spot.”
Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, is one of three GOP House committee chairs who will soon leave office, the others being Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green of Tennessee.
Donalds said, “You can go as far back as when [former House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy was vacated, there have been some members on Capitol Hill who are basically just throwing up their hands. I think that’s wrong.”
The Florida Republican added, “I think that if you’re going to 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. You can choose not to run for reelection. There are members that do that all the time.”
Donalds said, “Leaving in the middle of your term is a serious, serious matter. I’m a little concerned about the majority, but we’re going to get through this like we’ve gotten through everything else.”
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