Tennessee Rep. Mark Green will resign after next budget vote

Mary Ellen McIntire, CQ-Roll Call on Jun 9, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Tennessee Rep. Mark E. Green, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, announced Monday that he would resign from Congress later this year.

“Recently, I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up,” the Republican congressman said in a statement. “As a result, today I notified the Speaker and the House of Representatives that I will resign from Congress as soon as the House votes once again on the reconciliation package.”

Green, who is in his fourth term representing Tennessee’s 7th District, did not offer more details on the private sector role or an exact date for his formal resignation. Under House rules, members are supposed to file a statement with the Ethics Committee disclosing any negotiations they’ve had regarding future private employment, including the name of the employer and the date negotiations or an agreement commenced.

House Republicans passed their budget reconciliation measure, dubbed the “big, beautiful bill,” last month, and the Senate is now considering the package. But GOP senators are expected to amend the bill, meaning the House would be expected to vote on the bill again. Republicans have said they hope to send it to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature by July 4.

Green’s announcement marks the second time he has revealed plans to leave Congress. Early last year, he said he would not seek a fourth term, before reversing course weeks later after Trump’s urging. He was easily reelected in November from his safely Republican district, which includes parts of Nashville and the surrounding areas.

“Though I planned to retire at the end of the previous Congress, I stayed to ensure that President Trump’s border security measures and priorities make it through Congress,” Green said Monday. “By overseeing the border security portion of the reconciliation package, I have done that.”

A member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, Green was first elected to the House in 2018. He succeeded fellow Republican Marsha Blackburn, who vacated the seat for a successful Senate run.

A retired Army flight surgeon who did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, Green also served for six years in the Tennessee Senate. While Green was a state senator, Trump nominated him for Army secretary in 2017. However, Green withdrew from consideration less than a month later following scrutiny of his past comments on contentious issues that he said had become a distraction.

Green’s resignation will leave House Republicans with an even slimmer majority in the narrowly divided chamber. Under state law, Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, is required to call for a special election within 10 days of a vacancy. Primaries would be held within 55 and 60 days of the governor’s announcement, while the special general election would take place within 100 and 107 days of the official vacancy.

While Democrats have overperformed in special elections this year, including for two deep-red House districts in Florida, Republicans would be the heavy favorites to hold Green’s seat. Trump carried the 7th District by 22 points last year, according to calculations by The Downballot.

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