How Rep. Mark Green's abrupt resignation will affect House Republicans' slim majority



Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee abruptly announced Monday that he will be resigning from Congress, narrowing an already slim GOP majority.

Green said he will be ending his 40-year-long career in public service to pursue a role in the private sector, which he says "was too exciting to pass up." His resignation will take place after he votes on President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which barely made it through the House in May and is currently making its way through the Senate.

Once Green officially resigns, Republicans will hold 219 seats and Democrats will hold 212 seats.

Although Green is not the first Republican member to leave this Congress, his resignation has raised some eyebrows.

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"It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from Congress," Green said in a statement Monday. "Recently, I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up. 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."

Although Green is not the first Republican member to leave Congress since the 2024 election, his resignation has raised some eyebrows.

Former Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz of Florida both left Congress after President Donald Trump nominated them for attorney general and national security adviser. Gaetz's nomination was eventually withdrawn, and he was replaced with Republican Rep. Jimmy Patronis. Waltz went on to serve in the administration and was later replaced by Republican Rep. Randy Fine.

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York was also set to serve in the administration as ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik was midway through her Senate confirmation before her nomination was also pulled due to the narrow House majority.

While Stefanik's nomination was withdrawn due to the slim majority, Green's resignation went unopposed.

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A key difference between the two is that Green's seat is in a safe Republican district. Although Stefanik comfortably won re-election, the blue state of New York would have been responsible for holding a special election for her seat.

Stefanik was also set to leave before the reconciliation vote, which barely made it through the House in May with a 215-214 vote. Because of the thin margin, Green said he will remain in Congress until the landmark legislation is sent back from the Senate and passes the House for a second time.

House Republican leadership staff confirmed to Blaze News that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was made aware of Green's imminent resignation before his announcement on Monday, allowing for a smooth transition.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee now must set the date for a special election. Tennessee law requires the governor to order a special election within 10 days of Green's resignation and to schedule a primary election within 55 to 60 days from the resignation and a subsequent general election within 100 to 107 days.

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Memo to Democrats: ‘Oversight’ isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card



Democrats and their media allies now argue that members of Congress hold a newly invented constitutional right to storm U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. Their claim? Elected office grants them authority to resist arrest, trespass on federal property, and even assault law enforcement — all in the name of “oversight.”

This claim fails both legally and morally. The members involved should face prosecution for any crimes they committed, along with disciplinary action in the House of Representatives. For too long, the political class has treated immigration enforcement as a mere policy disagreement — as if wanting laws enforced and wanting them ignored were morally equivalent. In doing so, the left has normalized the historically abnormal: mass illegal immigration and the sabotage of our deportation systems. It’s time to treat these actions for what they are — criminal subversion of U.S. law.

No one gets to use 'oversight' as a pretext for criminal behavior.

Start with what happened last week in Newark, New Jersey. The instigators included New Jersey Democratic Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Rob Menendez Jr., along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Baraka was arrested for trespassing and defying multiple warnings to leave the premises. According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, body camera footage shows “members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body-slamming a female ICE officer.” DHS plans to release the video soon.

The Democrats have mounted two defenses. First, they claim victimhood — insisting they broke no laws. That argument will not survive video evidence.

Second, they assert an absolute right to enter ICE facilities without warning under their oversight authority. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, defended the stunt by denouncing ICE as “Trump’s stormtroopers” and promising “more oversight — and more unannounced visits.”

Thompson and others cite an appropriations law that says, “Nothing in this section may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility ... for the purpose of conducting oversight.”

That phrase — “conducting oversight” — is the entire ballgame.

The fact is, oversight powers do not belong to individual members of Congress. They belong to the full House, delegated through formal committees led by majority-party chairmen. Minority members cannot issue subpoenas or demand access on their own. Without authorization from Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee had no legal basis to enter — let alone rush — a secure ICE facility.

ICE’s past policy of accommodating visits reflects executive discretion, not any congressional right. No one gets to use “oversight” as a pretext for criminal behavior. Even with proper authorization, no member of Congress holds the right to use force to conduct an inspection. This is a political argument masquerading as a legal one.

U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba has indicated she will proceed with prosecution. Her decision should rest solely on the facts — not the convenient legal fiction of “oversight amnesty.” As Bennie Thompson himself once said when chairing the January 6 select committee, “No one is above the law.”

Congress should not let this incident pass without consequences. While expulsion may prove unlikely due to the two-thirds vote requirement, the House can and should remove these members from their committee assignments. Rep. McIver currently sits on the Homeland Security Committee, where Secretary Kristi Noem is scheduled to testify this week. Let her watch from the hallway.

Exclusive: Chip Roy introduces key bill protecting American land from CCP influence



Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) introduced legislation Tuesday that would bar members of the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing land in the United States, according to the bill text obtained exclusively by Blaze News.

The Securing America's Land from Foreign Interference Act would direct the president to "take actions as may be necessary" to prevent the purchase of public or private land in the United States by members of the CCP or under the influence of the CCP.

'If the Soviets were doing this 50 years ago, Congress would have already taken action; we need to look at the CCP with the same seriousness.'

China currently controls over 270,000 acres of land in the United States, with foreign investors overall controlling nearly 45 million acres of U.S. farmland, according to the latest data published by the Department of Agriculture.

"The Chinese Communist Party shouldn't be able to buy American land, and they especially shouldn't be able to buy our farmland or land near critical infrastructure like military bases, like we let them do now," Roy told Blaze News.

"If the Soviets were doing this 50 years ago, Congress would have already taken action; we need to look at the CCP with the same seriousness," Roy added.

In Texas alone, a Chinese-based energy company has purchased 130,000 acres of land close to Laughlin Air Force Base. Another Chinese company called Fufeng Group also purchased 300 acres of farmland just 12 miles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.

"That's why I first introduced the original language of this bill back in 2021," Roy told Blaze News. "Now — with a federal trifecta in the House, Senate and White House Republicans have no excuse not to force this issue and pass legislation barring the CCP from buying any American soil."

Roy's bill is co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Brandon Gill of Texas, Eric Burlison of Missouri, Pat Fallon of Texas, Mark Green of Tennessee, Troy Nehls of Texas, Michael Guest of Mississippi, Jake Ellzey of Texas, Pete Stauber of Minnesota, Randy Weber of Texas, and Nathaniel Moran of Texas.

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Biden-Harris DOJ drops charges against illegal aliens who allegedly tried to breach US military base



The Biden-Harris administration's Department of Justice has quietly and mysteriously dropped the charges against two Jordanian nationals who allegedly attempted to breach a Virginia military base in May.

Hasan Yousef Hamdan and Mohammad Khair Dabous, both in the country illegally, were accused of attempting to enter Quantico Marine Corps Base near Triangle, Virginia, while posing as Amazon delivery drivers, Blaze News previously reported.

'This whole case is more than curious.'

After they failed to produce access credentials, guards instructed the men to wait in a holding area for a secondary inspection. Instead of following the directive, the men reportedly attempted to proceed into the military base. Guards swiftly deployed vehicle denial barriers and prevented the men from entering.

One of the Jordanian nationals illegally crossed the southern border approximately a month before the incident, and the other man allegedly overstayed a student visa. Due to their illegal immigration status, the men were previously turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but they were released from federal custody.

The two men were facing misdemeanor trespassing charges after the May incident. However, in July, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia ordered their release on the condition that they attend their immigration proceedings and avoid military installations, Blaze News previously reported. They were released from detention after posting bail for their alleged crimes.

On Friday, the Washington Times reported that the Justice Department "quietly dismissed the charges" against Hamdan and Dabous.

The U.S. attorney in eastern Virginia dropped the charges in the interest of "the ends of justice," which the Times referred to as "boilerplate language" that failed to reveal any details about the decision.

Lawyers for the two men blamed the incident on a language barrier, claiming that Dabous was attempting to complete a delivery when he failed to understand the guard's instructions.

The Times reported that by September, it appeared prosecutors believed the event was a misunderstanding, yet they did not move to have the charges dropped until October 3.

Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Times, "This whole case is more than curious."

"The government had many, many opportunities to dispel the notion that there was something more nefarious about this than met the eye. And they took a pass every time," he noted.

Congress requested more information about the incident, but according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the Biden-Harris administration has been "delinquent" in answering lawmakers' questions.

Green told the Times, "We are aware that one of these men entered through the southwest border, claimed asylum, and was released into the interior just a month prior to the incident at Quantico."

"The circumstances surrounding this event remain concerning, and I urge the Biden-Harris administration to respond without further delay to Congress and the American people," he said.

The U.S. attorney's office and Hamdan's lawyer declined a request for comment from the Times. Dabous' legal representation did not respond to the news outlet's request.

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Biden won't extend controversial mass immigration program — Rep. Green dismisses move as 'another optics-driven smokescreen'



The Biden-Harris administration decided not to extend temporary legal status for the more than 500,000 immigrants who entered the country through its CHNV program, the Department of Homeland Security stated Friday.

The CHNV program allows 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to immigrate to the United States. The program provides beneficiaries with temporary legal status and a work permit for a two-year period.

'Hard to believe the Biden-Harris administration has a plan to remove.'

On Friday, the DHS confirmed that the Biden-Harris administration will not extend temporary legal status beyond the two years. Instead, beneficiaries will have to apply for another program to legally remain in the country.

Immigrants from Haiti who arrived in the U.S. before June and those from Venezuela who arrived before July 2023 can apply for Temporary Protected Status to avoid removal orders.

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "As initially stated in the Federal Register notices, a grant of parole under these processes was for a temporary period of up to two years. This two-year period was intended to enable individuals to seek humanitarian relief or other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible, and to work and contribute to the United States."

"Those who do not have pending immigration benefits or who have not been granted an immigration benefit during their two-year parole period will need to depart the United States prior to the expiration of their authorized parole period or may be placed in removal proceedings after the period of parole expires," the statement continued.

As of the end of August, nearly 530,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela entered the U.S. on the program.

Representative Mark Green (R-Tennessee) told the New York Post that the administration's decision not to extend the program was "yet another optics-driven smokescreen" to appear tougher on immigration heading into the November election.

"There are numerous other ways these inadmissible aliens could be — and likely will be — allowed to stay, including through applying for asylum or Temporary Protected Status," Green stated. "Even if they don't, however, given ICE's [Immigration and Customs Enforcement's] low enforcement rates under this administration, most simply will not be priorities for removal."

The controversial mass immigration program, largely opposed by Republicans, came under fire after a Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate report discovered fraud. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security paused CHNV in mid-July "out of an abundance of caution." However, the program was restarted weeks later after the department said it would implement "additional vetting."

"Remember, a recent DHS Inspector General report found that the Biden-Harris administration still has no plan to remove the 77,000 Afghan nationals who were paroled in 2021 and 2022, and no effective process for monitoring parole expiration," Green told the Post. "So, it is hard to believe the Biden-Harris administration has a plan to remove a far greater number of inadmissible Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals paroled into the country at their direction."

Last month, a group of senators, led by Ted Cruz (R-Texas), sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding the "fundamentally-flawed" program be terminated, Blaze News previously reported. The senators called the administration's program "ineffective, unlawful, and hazardous."

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1,500 Illegal Immigrants From ISIS ‘Recruiting Ground’ Country Have Crossed The Border Since 2020

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-12.07.32 AM-1200x672.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-12.07.32%5Cu202fAM-1200x672.png%22%7D" expand=1]Foreign nationals from ISIS hotbeds have crossed the southern border in record-breaking numbers under the Biden administration.