Rep. Waltz Shrinks GOP Majority After Resignation

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was already working with a razor-thin advantage in the House, and that just got smaller.

He had already lost Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) when he was first nominated for AG, having resigned on the spot.

Now, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) has also resigned, having been nominated as Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser.

Time to Go

With Waltz resigning on inauguration day, the GOP Advantage has been shrunk down to 218-215, giving the GOP only one vote to spare in any given House vote.

The good news is that it will increase by a few seats once the replacements are named, but there will still have to be special elections.

Both Gaetz and Waltz are in strong conservative districts, so I do not anticipate any shocking upsets in these races.

Governor DeSantis has already selected his pick to fill the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Attorney General Ashley Moody.

The special elections to fill the House seats have been announced for April.

Waltz is another strong pick by Trump, but this position does not require committee approval, so he is able to take his post immediately.

The only way this particular post requires Senate approval is if the appointment is given to a three- or four-star general. In those cases, confirmation is needed to allow the general to maintain his or her rank in the new position.

Waltz served from 1996-2000 in the Army, then transitioned over to the Guard, and remains active today, holding the rank of Colonel.

He remains assigned to the US Army Special Forces, having been decorated with four Bronze Stars, two of them for valor.

He had previously served in the Pentagon as policy director for multiple Secretaries of Defense. He also served as a counter-terrorism adviser for the vice president.