WASHINGTON, D.C./ATLANTA: Less than a week after President Donald Trump publicly criticized her, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she will resign from Congress on January 5. Her exit marks the end of five turbulent years in Washington.
Greene began as a fringe outsider, briefly gained influence during Kevin McCarthy's speakership, and appeared poised for renewed power under Trump's return to the White House. But growing tensions between the two led to a final break.
Before Trump's rise, Greene had little political experience. She and her husband purchased a construction company from her father and later opened a CrossFit gym in suburban Atlanta. During the 2016 election, she began posting politically charged videos online.
Her early commentary was filled with conspiracy theories—claiming the 2017 Las Vegas shooting was staged to support gun reform, suggesting the U.S. government carried out the September 11 attacks, and arguing in a 2018 video that Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib weren't legitimate lawmakers because they used Qurans during their swearing-in.
Greene entered politics in 2020, initially running in a competitive GOP primary in the Atlanta area. She later shifted to the heavily Republican 14th District in northwest Georgia after the incumbent retired.
During her campaign, she openly supported QAnon, which falsely claims a global network of elites runs a child trafficking ring. She later insisted she had been misled by what she saw online.
After winning the GOP nomination in a runoff, she easily secured her seat. Some of her most controversial past remarks surfaced after her election, including a false claim that the Rothschild banking family helped ignite California wildfires using a space laser—a theory widely mocked as "Jewish space lasers." Greene later said she didn't know the family was Jewish.
Weeks into her first term, the Democratic-led House removed her from committees for promoting hateful and violent conspiracy theories, with 11 Republicans supporting the move. The punishment didn't slow her down—she raised millions from small donors and continued sparring with Democratic leaders, even suing Speaker Nancy Pelosi over fines for violating COVID-19 mask rules.
When Republicans took back the House in 2022, Greene aligned herself with McCarthy. He restored her committee assignments and made her a key adviser. She remained in the spotlight, feuding with Democratic lawmakers and shouting "liar" at President Joe Biden during a State of the Union address.
Greene remained one of Trump's most visible allies during his campaign for a second term, often appearing at rallies. But the relationship soured. Tensions grew after she declined to run for the Senate—Trump later said polling showed she couldn't win. She also rejected a run for governor, accusing Georgia Republicans of protecting the establishment.
Greene increasingly clashed with Trump's positions, criticizing Israeli military actions in Gaza as "genocide," pushing for Jeffrey Epstein files to be released, and blasting Republican leaders over the recent government shutdown.
She began describing herself as "America first, America only" and accusing Trump of focusing too much on foreign policy.
As Greene escalated her attacks, Trump finally turned on her, calling her a "traitor" and vowing to back a primary challenger.
One week later, she announced her resignation.
