Updated November 21, 2025 at 8:08 PM MST
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who rose to prominence as one of President Trump's biggest defenders and recently became one of his biggest critics, is leaving Congress.
In a nearly 11-minute video statement, Greene excoriated the Republican Party, House leadership and the start of campaign season "which means all courage leaves and only safe campaign re-election mode is turned on."
Greene's announcement late Friday that she would resign effective Jan. 5, 2026, is the latest escalation of months of clashes with the president over his second term agenda – including the release of the Epstein files.
"Standing up for American women who were raped at 14, trafficked and used by rich powerful men, should not result in me being called a traitor and threatened by the President of the United States, whom I fought for," Greene said.
Trump's campaign promise to release files related to the life and death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – and the numerous ways the president stonewalled the release this year before ultimately relenting this week – was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
The third-term congresswoman also said it would not be fair to her northwest Georgia district, one of the most conservative in the country, to have them "endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the President we all fought for" while noting that "Republicans will likely lose the midterms."
"It's all so absurd and completely unserious," she said. "I refuse to be a 'battered wife,' hoping it all goes away and gets better."
Greene is one of a record 40 House members and 10 senators who have indicated they do not plan to return to their seats after the 2026 election, joining a number of lawmakers who are retiring or running for a different office.
Her resignation will likely set up a special election to finish the rest of her term in the spring.
The fracturing of Trump's MAGA coalition has been developing for months, with splits over foreign policy issues like bombing Iran and the support of Israel's war in Gaza accompanying questions about domestic effects of tariffs. Greene has been a vocal opponent each time.
Greene has remained ideologically consistent throughout her time in Congress and with her criticism of Trump. Her argument is that the president and the Republican Party have changed and fallen short of the Make America Great Again and America First vision. Notably, her announcement video also blasted the "political industrial complex of both political parties" that focuses on which side "can convince Americans to hate the other side more."
"And the results are always the same, no matter which way the political pendulum swings, Republican or Democrat," she said. "Nothing ever gets better for the common American man or woman."
Greene's retirement announcement comes at a time when the Republican Party – and Trump – are facing a number of setbacks, including defeats up and down the ballot in this month's elections and poor economic headwinds. Now, there is a large and visible dent in the previously impenetrable armor that is Trump's control over the party and its future, accelerating the inevitable questions around what a post-Trump GOP would look like.
Copyright 2025 NPR
