The narrow margin of the Republican House majority will get even thinner later this month as Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson announced Tuesday will be resigning earlier than expected.
Johnson, who represents Ohio's sixth congressional district in the eastern part of the state that includes East Palestine, site of the devastating train derailment and chemical spill last February, submitted his official resignation from Congress to Gov. Mike DeWine and Speaker Mike Johnson effective Jan. 21.
Johnson, who has been in office since 2011, will take over as president of Youngstown State University the next day, according to a letter from Michael A. Peterson, chair of the Youngstown's Board of Trustees posted on the university's website. Johnson was expected to begin his tenure at Youngstown State, where his son Noah is an undergraduate, on March 15.
The resignation of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California on Dec. 31 and the expulsion of Rep. George Santos of New York, coupled with Johnson's departure later this month, will leave Republicans with a 219-213 edge in the House, putting tremendous pressure on the Republican conference to stay together as deadlines loom for the passage of appropriations bills on Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 to fund the federal government.
Meanwhile, a special election to fill Santos' seat is set for Feb. 13 between Republican Mazi Pilip and Democrat Tom Suozzi, and a Suozzi victory will narrow the GOP's majority even further. But it isn't all bad news for Republicans because Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., who has represented New York's 26th congressional district since 2005, announced in November he will be resigning in February.
In his resignation letter to DeWine and Mike Johnson, WFMJ-TV in Youngstown reported Bill Johnson wrote the residents of his district are "proud and patriotic" but disregarded by America's "elites."
"These blue-collar communities, like countless others in 'flyover county' were critical in building our great nation and will play a pivotal role in America's future. I am extremely humbled to have been repeatedly elected to serve them," Johnson wrote.