Republican finger pointing and frustration grows as lawmakers Mike Gallagher and Ken Buck quit Congress early and hamstring the GOP’s slim majority: ‘People are ‘really f****ing pissed’

Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated as more of their colleagues abandon them by resigning early, even the typically pragmatic Rep. Mike Gallagher.

After Gallagher’s shock departure, Republicans will have virtually no margin for error on party bills: They will be able to lose just one vote and still pass legislation without help from Democrats.

That margin will increase to two again after a May 22 runoff between two Republicans vying to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The slim margin unsettles Republicans, who pledged to serve a full two-year term and plan to remain in place through the November general election to protect the Republican majority.

And there’s finger-pointing about how Gallagher, R-Wis., could get out without a solid plan to fill his seat with another Republican who would govern for the eight months until the election.

A source close to Gallagher told DailyMail.com that House Republican leaders had been “briefed and approved” of his timeline for his April 19 departure.

But a source familiar with Speaker Johnson’s thinking pushed back on that characterization.

“The speaker has encouraged Gallagher to continue his term, so I don’t think it’s accurate to say he has blessed the whole situation,” the source said. “He tried to encourage him to stay for a term.”

Gallagher, chairman of the high-profile China subcommittee, is the sixth House Republican to leave before the end of his term. Everyone except George Santos, who was expelled, resigned.

Another 21 Republicans announced they will not seek re-election, as did 25 Democrats.

A source close to the leadership insisted to DailyMail.com that it is “absolutely incorrect” to say that Gallagher’s departure was approved by House Republican leaders.

“People are really damn angry that he won’t leave the seat early enough to trigger a special, so that’s just not true.”

But under Wisconsin’s complicated election law, Gallagher’s departure date could have led to two different scenarios.

If he leaves between April 9 and May 14, a special primary and general election will be lumped in with the regular primary on Aug. 13 and the general election on Nov. 5.

The winner of the Nov. 5 special election could take office as soon as House rules allow, filling a Republican seat in the days immediately following the 2024 election.

But if Gallagher were to leave before April 9, special primaries and special elections could be called at the request of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

According to the earliest Evers, a special election could be held Wisconsin Codeis August 23. But that would violate another provision of the Wisconsin code: “No special election shall be held… after August 1 prior to the general election, unless held on the same day as the general election.”

Therefore, Evers could easily move the special election date to the same or even after the general election date on November 5.

Still, Republicans seized on Gallagher’s flight to the exit.

“The timing couldn’t be worse,” said Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. ‘If he waits, we essentially cannot fill that seat. That is why I would like to publicly ask him to do the right thing and resign early.”

“He should stay,” New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney said on Fox News earlier this week.

‘We are dangerous. We may have a chairman Hakeem Jeffries here in the interim while we wait for a special election.”

“Personally, if you make a promise to the people who elect you that you will serve for two years unless you have a very good reason not to serve, why would you do that?” Tenney continued.

The New York Republican alluded to the very real chance that Democrats could capture the majority of the Republican Party if more members quit early, leading to Jeffries being elevated to chairman.

It would be the first time in history that control of a chamber would change halfway through Congress.

Fellow Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany told DailyMail.com he was “surprised” both by Gallagher’s earlier decision not to run for re-election, and even more so by his decision not to renew the term.

“I was a little surprised he didn’t serve another term,” he said. “When he announced he wouldn’t run, I thought he would stay until the end of his term, but obviously there were other things I’m not familiar with.”

“I know Mike has a young family and the pressures of being a member of Congress are difficult.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., attacked both Gallagher and Johnson for the timing of the departures.

“Speaker Johnson should force Mike Gallagher to leave early so his district can hold a special election, and any strong Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives would want to expel a House member for destroying our razor-thin majority in such a leaves a delicate, delicate state. We cannot allow this – we cannot allow this,” Greene said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.

“Mike Gallagher betrayed us all,” Greene continued.

“And Speaker Johnson, as the one responsible for our majority, praised Mike Gallagher on Friday after announcing his departure, saying he’s great and thanking him for his service in Congress,” she added.

Meanwhile, the nearly 50-member Freedom Caucus kicked out Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., dropped out of their group on his last day in the House of Representatives after announcing he, too, would leave early.

Both Buck and Gallagher voted against impeaching the Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.