House Speaker Mike Johnson is reportedly among a significant number of Republicans contemplating stepping down from Congress in the upcoming weeks, according to statements from Democrats. This anticipated wave of resignations is attributed to internal conflicts within the GOP.

Democratic members of Congress have pointed to recent election setbacks as a catalyst for the potential retirements. They claim these losses are a direct result of a deep division within the Republican Party, particularly regarding the controversial release of the Epstein files. As many as 16 Republican members are said to be considering leaving their posts.

Brooke Butler, the National Political Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), remarked to The Daily Mail, “The House Republican Conference is unraveling before our eyes. Deputy Speaker Mike Johnson has lost the trust of his colleagues and has effectively handed over control to Donald Trump.”

In a move to underscore their predictions, the DCCC released a “GOP Retirement Watch” Bingo card, listing the 16 Republican members they believe are likely to retire.

“As Republican lawmakers return home for the holiday season, we anticipate that many will decide to make a swift exit,” the DCCC stated, suggesting an impending wave of departures.

Speaker Johnson has faced criticism from many of the women in his caucus in recent weeks, including Elise Stefanik of New York, who said Johnson ‘wouldn’t have the votes’ to retain his title if the vote were held today.

While Stefanik isn’t on the Democrats’ list, fellow high-profile GOP member Nancy Mace was expected to follow Marjorie Taylor Greene into retirement.

Mace – who is also running for governor of South Carolina – slammed rumors she was she would meet with Greene to discuss quitting and their shared frustrations with GOP leadership. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson is among a slew of Republicans expected to resign from Congress in the coming weeks as party infighting sparks a mass exodus among GOP members, Democrats said

The DCCC even released a ‘GOP Retirement Watch’ Bingo card with the 16 members they think are leaving

‘I loathe how slow Congress moves. I loathe we haven’t delivered on President Trump’s agenda. I loathe serious lawmakers aren’t taken seriously,’ Mace wrote on Wednesday. 

‘I loathe the press making stories up. I loathe the politics of lies. Nowhere did I say I was retiring.’

The exodus follows a major rift among GOP members in Congress who voted to force the Trump administration to release all of the investigative files related to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

The full list on the Democrats’ ‘Retirement Watch List’ is: Johnson, Mace, Mike Rogers of Alabama, David Valadao and Darrell Issa of California, Carlos Gimenez of Florida, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Bill Huizenga of Michigan, Ann Wagner and Sam Graves of Missouri, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, Mike Turner of Ohio, Tony Gonzales of Texas and Rob Wittman of Virginia. 

The Daily Mail reached out to a spokesperson for Johnson and the NRCC for comment. 

The story was part of a larger narrative – also reported on by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal – that several high profile women in the Republican Party are not happy with Johnson.

Mace didn’t exactly hide her frustration with Johnson, writing: ‘I signed a discharge petition to ban stock trading today. Why does something so easy ethically and morally to support, take forcing it down the throats of leadership when it’s just common sense? Members of Congress shouldn’t line their pockets with insider trading.’

However, the Congresswoman reiterated that she wasn’t leaving Congress anytime soon. 

‘My retirement is a BIG FAT NO. This clickbait thing has got to stop. No one trusts the politicians spreading these rumors.’

Nancy Mace, who has denied rumors she’ll retire this week, is on the Democrats’ list

Speaker Johnson has faced criticism from many of the women in his caucus in recent weeks, including Elise Stefanik of New York

Her comments came after the Times reported Mace has grown sick of Johnson’s treatment of women in their caucus that a meeting with Greene on quitting was coming next week.

The NBC News story said that the pair were merely meeting to ‘talk about their shared frustrations.’

Both NBC and the Times pointed out that Mace and Greene, as well as Anna Paulina Luna and Elise Stefanik were angry with Johnson.

Earlier this week, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Stefanik directly hit out at Johnson, saying: ‘He certainly wouldn’t have the votes to be speaker if there was a roll-call vote tomorrow.’

She cited her frustration with how the party handled the record-long government shutdown and recent underperformances by Republicans in special elections that showed Johnson is ‘a political novice.’ 

‘Whereas Kevin McCarthy was a political animal, Mike Johnson is a political novice and, boy, does it show, with the House Republicans underperforming for the first time in the Trump era.’

She also suggested Donald Trump could do without the speaker, adding that the president ‘is the leader of the Republicans and he certainly doesn’t need Mike Johnson.’ 

Stefanik, who herself is running for governor in New York, has been feuding with Johnson over a provision she wanted included in the annual defense-authorization bill.

The list comes after Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her retirement last month

Johnson claimed he wasn’t aware of the problem and would handle it, expressing confusion at the anger.

‘I don’t exactly know why Elise won’t just call me. This wasn’t even on my radar.’ 

Stefanik later wrote to social media: ‘I had a very productive conversation with Speaker Johnson last night and I shared my views that House Republicans need to focus on delivering results to the American people.’ 

Luna, a Florida Congresswoman, was frustrated with Johnson’s refusal to schedule a vote on her bill to ban members from trading stocks, which Mace supports. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment. 

The infighting comes after the unexpected closeness of a single-digit race in a Republican stronghold raised serious questions about the GOP’s brand nationwide and their voter enthusiasm heading into 2026. 

Significant Democratic electoral victories last month in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia drew substantial media attention and money to Tennessee in the final weeks of the special election. 

Democrats are sure to view this close call as a sign to play heavily in districts that have long been considered safe GOP strongholds in the new year’s midterms.

Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey is on the list after his state gave a whopping Democrat victory to its gubernatorial candidate

Congressional veteran Darrell Issa is also on the list after California’s Prop 50 passed

Johnson’s majority is still on thin ice with the imminent departure of Greene, who will resign her seat in January. 

The Georgia Republican put an end to her Congressional career in a 10-minute video posted to social media last month that laid bare her frustrations with Congress, the party and Donald Trump. 

Greene announced she will resign from Congress at the beginning of 2026 following her split from longtime ally Trump.

In a lengthy statement and 10-minute video, she branded the president ‘hateful’ over his decision to retract his endorsement of her, a move which saw him dismiss Greene as a ‘ranting lunatic’.

The Georgia lawmaker cited a growing disgust with the political establishment in Washington and her fight for the release of the so-called Epstein files, which formed much of her feud with Trump.

She raged against the ‘political industrial complex’ which she claimed uses Americans as ‘pawns in an endless game of division’.

Greene said that it would be unfair for her ‘sweet little district’ to ‘endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the President we all fought for’ and even added that ‘Republicans will likely lose the midterms’.

Greene went on to claim she has ‘always been despised in Washington, DC, and just never fit in’.

The Republican also said that she was leaving to spend more time with her family amid constant death threats she claimed she received in the wake of her clash with with the president. She said her last day would be January 5, 2026.

Greene also expressed profound frustration with her own party’s inability to get anything done despite controlling the presidency and both houses of Congress in 2025. 

‘Almost one year into our majority, the legislature has been mostly sidelined, we endured an eight week shutdown wrongly resulting in the House not working for the entire time, and we are entering campaign season which means all courage leaves and only safe campaign re-election mode is turned on,’ she said. 

Greene’s departure will cap five tumultuous years in Congress. 

She was first an outsider, then briefly at the center of power during House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s reign. 

Trump’s return to the White House could have heralded a new era of clout in Washington, but Greene’s simmering discontent led to a split with the president.