House Homeland chairman announces retirement a day after leading Mayorkas’ impeachment

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green on Wednesday announced that he won’t run for a fourth term, pointing to the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas just the day before as among the reasons it is “time for me to return home.”

“Our country – and our Congress – is broken beyond most means of repair,” Green said in a statement. “I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington.”

As chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Green was a driving force behind the Mayorkas impeachment push over border security in a deeply partisan and highly unusual attack on a Cabinet official. His panel conducted a months-long investigation of Mayorkas, his policies and his management of the department, ultimately concluding Tuesday that his conduct in office amounted to “high crimes and misdemeanors” worthy of impeachment.

Green has served since 2019 in the 7th Congressional District, which was redrawn in 2022 to include a significant portion of Nashville. He previously served as an Army surgeon and in the state Senate and is from Montgomery County.

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Green flirted running for governor in 2017, but suspended his campaign after he was nominated by former President Donald Trump to become the Army secretary. He later withdrew his nomination due to criticism over his remarks about Muslims and LGBTQ+ Americans, including saying that being transgender is a disease. He also urged that a stand be taken against “the indoctrination of Islam” in public schools and referred to a “Muslim horde” that invaded Constantinople hundreds of years ago.

After winning the congressional seat in 2018, Green once again made headlines after hosting a town hall where he stated, without citing evidence, that vaccines cause autism. He later walked back his comments but not before state health officials described the Republican as a “ goofball.”

“As I have done my entire life, I will continue serving this country -– but in a new capacity,” Green said Wednesday, not disclosing if he will run again for governor in 2026, where the seat will up for grabs because Republican Gov. Bill Lee is prohibited from running under Tennessee’s gubernatorial term limits.

In 2022, Green’s middle Tennessee congressional seat was among seats that Republicans drastically carved up during redistricting. Those congressional maps are now facing a federal lawsuit, but that case isn’t scheduled to go to trial until April 2025.

So far on the Republican side, Caleb Stack has pulled petitions to run for the now open congressional district. Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry announced last year that she would run for the position as a Democrat.

“I expect candidates who agree with Mark Green or are even more extreme will announce campaigns, and I look forward to taking on whoever makes it through that primary,” Barry said in a statement.