(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, announced that he was departing from Congress, making the already tight GOP majority in the House even more precarious.
Johnson accepted an offer to become the head of Youngstown State University and officially planned to leave on Jan. 21, according to Politico.
“Bill submitted his official resignation from Congress today, effective at the end of day on January 21, 2024, paving the way for him to begin his presidency this month,” said Michael Peterson, chair of the school’s Board of Trustees, in a statement.
Though the Ohio lawmaker announced his new position in November, he was not expected to leave the House so soon.
After to the recent abdication of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and the removal of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., Republicans hold just a seven-seat majority over the House Democrats.
With Johnson’s departure, and the likelihood that Democrats will reclaim the district that Santos flipped red in the last election, that could soon be as narrow as five seats under the present circumstances, barring any other unforeseen events.
Johnson’s and McCarthy’s districts, by contrast, are both relatively safe for Republicans.
McCarthy, after his ousting from the role of House speaker, opted to leave the seat altogether, having spent much of his 17-year career in Congress in hot pursuit of the top leadership position only to see it snatch unceremoniously from him by his own party.
After a slight hiccup with California Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office, McCarthy’s handpicked successor, state Rep. Vince Fong, will be on the ballot in California’s 20th Congressional district on March 5.
Rumors of McCarthy scoring a possible cabinet post in the next Trump administration continue to fly as well.
Santos, whose former seat comes up for special election on Feb. 13., has similar plans.
He recently made a 2024 resolution to become presidential candidate Donald Trump’s director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We have over 50M+ people who have invaded our sovereignty over the years due to careless and neglectful immigration policy, if given the job I know exactly where to start and run the much needed raids of removals proceedings this country needs,” he said in a lengthy Twitter post.
My new year resolution is that President Trump returns to the white house and in 2025 I can be appointed Director of ICE.
It’s time to reclaim our country and if you believe the nonsense numbers the media is giving you then you are accepting the big lie!
We have over 50M+…
— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) January 2, 2024
Since his expulsion for fraud and corruption, Santos publicly criticized several of his former colleagues for ethics violations—particularly the representatives that had key roles in his ousting.
