House Republican Mark Green Resigns

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) has resigned from the House amid a tight margin between parties in the lower chamber.

“It’s with a heavy heart that I say farewell. To my constituents across Tennessee’s 7th District—thank you. The trust you put in me is humbling. I will look back fondly on my years of serving as your voice in Washington,” Green, who started in the House in 2019, said in a post on the social platform X earlier this month.

There are now 219 Republicans and 212 Democrats in the lower chamber, only a seven-seat difference amid already high tensions between the two parties and the 2026 midterm races in which Democrats seek to take back the House, beginning to heat up.

President Trump’s base has also recently been rattled by controversy over files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, creating some strain between Republican lawmakers and the president.

Close to three-quarters of Democratic voters were feeling motivated to vote in the next election cycle in a recent CNN poll.

Seventy-two percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters in the poll were “extremely motivated” to vote before next year’s midterms, with 50 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters saying the same.

Republicans are also tight in the Senate, with 53 seats to Democrats’ 45 seats and two independent senators.

Green is an Army veteran who has served in Congress since 2019.

As House Homeland Security Committee chair, he oversaw Republicans' impeachment of former Biden administration DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Even with Green's departure from Congress, it's a safe bet to assume his House seat will stay in Republican hands.

The district voted for Trump by more than 20 percentage points over former Vice President Kamala Harris last year.

Green called Van Epps, a decorated Army veteran and the former commissioner of Tennessee's Department of General Services (DGS), a "true warrior."

"Matt Van Epps has my complete and total endorsement," Green shared in a statement with Fox News Digital. Green revealed that he served in the same Army special operations unit as Van Epps, which he described as "a brotherhood that cannot be replicated anywhere else."

In a statement shared first with Fox News Digital, Van Epps said he was "deeply honored" to receive Green's endorsement and "ready to put the people of the 7th District first."

"Congressman Green has left some very large shoes to fill, but I’m ready to step in and continue his work on behalf of Tennesseans," Van Epps said.

Several Republican candidates have announced their own congressional campaigns, including Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight, U.S. Army veteran Jonathan Thorp, Mason Foley of Main Street Health, and state Reps. Jay Reedy, Lee Reeves and Jody Barrett.