Trump’s national security adviser Waltz resigns from House, reducing Republican majority

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Florida, retired from Congress on Monday to serve as President-elect Trump’s national security adviser, an expected move he announced just an hour before Trump was sworn in as president.

Waltz had confirmed to Fox News his plans to resign Day of the previous inauguration Trump’s inauguration, a decision that further reduces the Republican House majority to just 218-215.

Staff prepare for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in the rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Reuters)

“As I prepare to assume my duties as National Security Advisor to the President-elect, Donald J. Trump, I hereby make official my resignation from the United States House of Representatives, effective January 20, 2025,” Waltz said in a letter announcing his decision.

“I intend to serve out my term in the 118th Congress and be sworn in to the 118th Congress. I have also sent a notice to Governor Ron DeSantis to notify him of my resignation.”

A special election to replace Waltz will be held in April.

News of his resignation from the House comes at a time when Republicans in the chamber have struggled to unify amid intra-party divisions over government spending, loyalty to Trump and other ideological differences.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters on the floor of Congress before lawmakers vote on a new spending bill to avert a government shutdown. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

These divisions were on stark display during the election of House Speaker Mike Johnson in early January and the massive spending bill in December that narrowly avoided a government shutdown.

Trump praised Mike Waltz’s 25-plus years in the Army’s special forces. Here, Waltz is depicted in Afghanistan. (Mike Waltz)

Waltz, a former Green Beret who served in both the White House and the Pentagon, was tapped by Trump in the fall of 2024 to be his national security adviser.

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Trump praised Waltz’s more than 25 years in the Army’s Special Forces, noting that he “was deployed multiple times in combat, for which he received four Bronze Stars, including two with Valor.”

Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.