Yet another Republican early retirement leaves GOP majority hanging by a thread

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) will become the latest Republican lawmaker to retire before the end of his term, further narrowing an already paper-thin majority on April 19.

Gallagher is the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

When he and Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) are gone, Republicans will have only 217 seats to Democrats' 213. This means that if two Republicans don't vote with the party, it could kill a vote that doesn't have any Democrat support.

Gallagher did not give a reason for his departure, only saying that he had made it after talking to his family.

“This is calculated. Gallagher could leave now, and allow his safe Republican seat to be filled quickly. Instead, he is deliberately leaving on a timeline that will leave it empty until November, leaving the GOP majority even smaller and making a Democrat House takeover a real possibility,” Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA said.

“It is tough with a five-seat majority, it is tough with a two seat, one will be the same. We all have to work together,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said. “We have to unite if we are going to get things done, we have proven with bills like our energy bill, our border security bill and some of the other big things we have done we can come together and get things done for hard working families.”