US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Friday she will resign from Congress, with her final day set for January 5, 2026. The decision follows a highly publicized falling-out with former President Donald Trump.
Greene, elected from Georgia in 2021, rose to national attention as an outspoken MAGA loyalist known for promoting conspiracy theories and fiercely backing Trump early in his post-presidential influence. Their relationship soured in recent months after Greene publicly pushed for the release of government documents tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and took positions at odds with party leadership — including calling the Gaza war a genocide, the first Republican lawmaker to use that term this year.
Greene said her advocacy on the Epstein files drew harsh criticism from Trump and others. “Standing up for American women who were raped at 14, trafficked and used by rich powerful men, should not result in me being called a traitor and threatened by the president of the United States, whom I fought for,” she wrote in a social media post announcing her resignation.
Trump publicly distanced himself, describing Greene as “wacky,” withdrawing his endorsement earlier this month and saying he will support a challenger in 2026. In an interview quoted by ABC News, Trump said of her resignation, “I think it’s great news for the country. It’s great.” Trump had previously dismissed the Epstein document campaign as a “Democrat hoax,” though he signed legislation this week that will release the files after bipartisan approval.
Greene framed her decision as a personal and political calculation. She said she has “too much self-respect and dignity, love my family way too much, and do not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the president we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms.” She added, “I refuse to be a ‘battered wife’ hoping it all goes away and gets better.”
Her resignation will narrow the Republican majority in the House to 218–213 while the GOP retains a 53–47 edge in the Senate. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp will be responsible for calling a special election — including primaries and a general — to fill Greene’s seat for the remainder of the term through January 2027. Those special contests could be scheduled before the May party primaries for the next two-year term.
Greene’s announcement marks a notable shift in the ranks of House Republicans and caps a tumultuous chapter in her political rise and rupture with the party’s once-closest presidential ally.