Two weeks ago, Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee said he would leave Washington because Congress was broken beyond repair.
On Thursday, he said he has decided to stay and help fix it, prompted by a nudge from arch-persuader and former President Donald Trump.
Green’s Feb. 14 announcement had surprised many and led to multiple calls to reconsider, according to The Tennessean.
“While my strong desire was to leave Congress at the end of this year, since my announcement, I have received countless calls from constituents, colleagues, and President Trump urging me to reconsider,” Green, 59, said Thursday in a statement.
“I was reminded of the words of General MacArthur on a statue at West Point: ‘Duty, honor, country.’ I realized, once again: I had a duty to my country to fulfill.
“I will be running for re-election so I can be here on Day 1 next year to help President Trump end this border crisis once and for all.”
Democratic congressional candidate and former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry criticized Green’s reversal, saying: “My campaign is mounting a serious threat to flip this seat blue. Green’s flip-flop is just more of the same chaos and incompetence that has marked his time in Congress.”
At the time he announced his retirement, Green said he was worn down by trying to accomplish anything in Washington, according to Axios.
“There’s also just the frustration of trying to get something done here,” Green said then.
Will Republicans retain control of the House in November?
“This place is so broken, and making a difference here is just you know, just it feels like a lot of something for nothing.”
Green had vented his disgust with Washington politics.
“Our country — and our Congress — is broken beyond most means of repair. I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington,” Green said at the time, according to the New York Post.
Trump posted his support for Green.
“Mark Green has had lots of options because of his political talents, and the great job he has done as a Congressman, but given the fantastic work he’s doing as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, I hope he runs for Re-Election to the U.S. House of Representatives,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social.
“If he does, he has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Green was first elected in 2018.
As chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Green has been heavily involved in House efforts to draft and pass bills to address the crisis at the southern border as well as the House effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
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