Mike Gal­lagher deci­sion to leave House unchanged despite plea from lead­er­ship

EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Mike Gal­lagher (R‑WI) will still retire ear­ly from Con­gress in April despite urges from House GOP lead­er­ship to remain in office.
A source close to Gal­lagher told the Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er that Gal­lagher has been in touch with House Speak­er Mike John­son (R‑LA) and House lead­ers “through­out this process, includ­ing before this deci­sion was announced and his depar­ture date was agreed upon.”
“His deci­sion has not changed,” the source said.

Rep. Mike Gal­lagher (R‑WI) leads a hear­ing at the Capi­tol in Wash­ing­ton, Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Apple­white, File)

John­son had report­ed­ly asked Gal­lagher not to resign from Con­gress on April 19 as planned, accord­ing to Scripps News, and plead­ed with him to “do any­thing he can to stay longer” in the House, where Repub­li­cans hold a razor-thin nar­row major­i­ty.
The speaker’s polit­i­cal team did not respond to a request …