GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher won’t run for re-election

Wisconsin GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher, who made news earlier this week with his vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, announced on Saturday that he won’t run for re-election this year.

“The Framers intended citizens to serve in Congress for a season and then return to their private lives. Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old. And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re-election,” Gallagher said in his statement.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which was one of the first outlets to report the news of Gallagher’s retirement from the House alongside The Wall Street Journal, reported Saturday that the congressman “said his future work will be in-line with his national security goals and focus on defense policy.”

Gallagher on Tuesday was one of three House Republicans who voted against impeaching Mayorkas, whom Republicans have accused of violating his oath of office. Gallagher was among several Republicans who expressed skepticism about impeaching Mayorkas ahead of the failed vote, saying during a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that impeaching Mayorkas would “open Pandora’s box,” lawmakers leaving the room told reporters.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party pointed to Gallagher's decision to resign as evidence that "Speaker [Mike] Johnson and the House GOP are mired in chaos and dysfunction."

“Mike Gallagher calling it quits is about as stark an indictment of Republicans’ inability to govern as you can get,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Communications Director Joe Oslund added to NBC News in a statement. “Wisconsin Democrats look forward to competing in the 8th and bringing some stability and competence back to the