Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced on Friday that she will resign her seat in the House of Representatives in early January, after a dramatic falling out with President Donald Trump over the Jeffrey Epstein files and other issues.
Greene cited Trump's recent attacks on her — which included calling her a "traitor" and a "lunatic" — in a video and statement posted on X that said her last day in Congress will be Jan. 5.
"Loyalty should be a two way street and we should be able to vote our conscience and represent our district's interest because our job title is literally, 'Representative,'" wrote Greene, who is in the middle of a third term representing Georgia's 14th District.
After her announcement, Trump told an ABC News reporter, "I think it's great news for the country. It's great."
Greene, 51, had been a leading supporter of Trump and a prominent figure in the Republican's Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement, while sparking controversy for promoting conspiracy theories and using extreme rhetoric.
But in recent weeks, Trump has blasted her for backing a bill to compel the Department of Justice to release investigative files about the notorious sex offender Epstein.
Greene also has drawn Trump's ire for criticizing him for prioritizing meeting with foreign leaders at the expense of paying attention to the needs of Americans.
Trump last week said that he was withdrawing his support and endorsement of Greene, who was first elected in 2020, the year he lost a re-election bid to former President Joe Biden. He said that he would fully support "the right person" if they challenged her in the Republican primary next year.
In her statement on Friday night, Greene wrote, "I have too much self respect and dignity, love my family too much, and do not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the President we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms."
"And in turn, be expected to defend the President against impeachment after he hatefully dumped tens of millions of dollars against me and tried to destroy me," Greene said.
"It's all so absurd and completely unserious," she wrote. "I refuse to be a 'battered wife' hoping it all goes away and gets better."
Greene wrote that she had "fought harder than almost any other elected Republican to elect Donald Trump and Republicans to power," and that she had left her mother's side as her father had brain surgery to vote against Trump's second impeachment by the House in 2021.
She said that her voting record "has been solidly with my party and the President," with the exceptions of "a few areas" such as her stance against H1B visa recipients replacing American jobs, U.S. involvement in foreign wars, "and demanding 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 of America, whom I fought for."
Greene's resignation from her seat could set the stage for her to seek to replace Trump in the White House in the 2028 election, and possibly become the next leader of the MAGA movement once he exits political life.
But Greene's statement conceded that her resignation might end not only her congressional career but also her role in MAGA.
"If I am cast aside by MAGA Inc and replaced by Neocons, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Military Industrial War Complex, foreign leaders, and the elite donor class that can't even relate to real Americans, then many common Americans have been cast aside and replaced as well."
Greene's resignation will reduce the Republican caucus's already extremely narrow majority in the House.
Currently, there are 219 Republican House members and 213 Democratic members.
But the 14th District is very conservative and is likely to elect a Republican to replace Greene whenever a special election for her seat is called.
