Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green vacillates on the border issue – and his constituents | Ashe

U.S. Rep. Mark Green from the 7th District west of Nashville announced last month he would retire from Congress in 2025, then reversed his decision in the space of two weeks.

That’s both surprising and not impressive.

It seems his GOP opposition will either fold or be minor. So he’ll likely go back to Congress, where – depending on the outcome of the national election – he could be in the minority and no longer chair of the House Homeland Security Committee. It is no longer clear that Republicans can maintain control of the House on Nov. 5, especially after losing a special election last month in New York to Democrat Tom Suozzi for the seat held by expelled Republican George Santos.

Green seems to think impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was a high achievement, even if by one vote. Surely, he knows that the current U.S. Senate will fail to deliver the two-thirds vote of 67 needed to convict. But perhaps he hopes to break into prime time when Republican House members lead the impeachment prosecution during the Senate trial.

Green should be concentrating on fixing the border issue now and not in November when he hopes Donald Trump will be president-elect. Why allow another seven months of illegal border crossings for political reasons? That motivation was laid bare by congressional Republicans to take action on the proposed bipartisan bill that gives the GOP what it asked for on immigration policy.

By staying in Washington, Green will no longer be able to spend full time in Tennessee running for governor. Other potential rivals are House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. (Skrmetti denies interest but reaped huge media attention suing the NCAA over its pursuit of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville).

Skrmetti increasingly is seen as a partisan figure. He has not answered or even acknowledged requests for legal opinions from Democratic members of the legislature for months while responding to GOP lawmakers in a timely manner.

The current system – in which the Tennessee Supreme Court picks the state AG for an eight-year term – was designed to remove partisan politics. Clearly, that has not worked with Skrmetti. This is most unfortunate as all members of the General Assembly should be treated with equal respect and timeliness.

While he says he is not running for governor in 2026, Skrmetti is securing more media coverage with the popular NCAA issue than the three current likely candidates combined. Unlike other issues Skrmetti advocates, this issue has broad support across the political spectrum.

Last year, former Knoxville attorney Chloe Akers raised more than $400,000 for the Liminal Plan, a political action committee – she described it as a “movement of moderates” – designed to challenge the Tennessee abortion ban, among other issues. She held several fundraising events in Knoxville.

Mayor Indya Kincannon and former mayor Madeline Rogero were among more than 150 donors, and the initiative generated coverage. Several significant donations, including one for $25,000, were made.

The Liminal Fund spent money largely on consultants and surveys. Now it no longer exists because Akers has moved to Nashville.

She has created a new group called Best of Tennessee. It’s a 501(c)(4), which means she does not have to disclose names and amounts of donors. She says it will launch in early April.

She is paid a salary (not disclosed how much) from this fund, which she manages. She does not have to disclose how the money is spent.

So much for transparency.

Akers says she has two contract employees with Best of Tennessee – Rachel Albright and Stephen Sebastian – and plans to release more information on April 2.

We will see. It is unclear how much money this new group has raised and how it will be spent beyond salaries. When I asked her, she did not disclose the amount.

At some point Akers will lose credibility if she is not transparent about how this money is being spent and in what political contests she engages.

Former ambassador to China Sandy Randt will speak at 5:30 p.m. March 19 at the Baker Center, 1640 Cumberland Ave., as part of the Ashe Lecture Series. He is the longest-serving American ambassador to China (2001-2009). The public is invited.

Birthdays 

March 14: Midge Ayres is 88. Brandon Clark is 36. Joey Creswell, husband of former councilwoman Janet Testerman, is 56. Hubert Smith and Bob Thornton are 70.

March 15: Emilyn Bellingrath is 31. Cynthia DeBusk is 59. Mike DeVoto is 69. Robert Dziewulski is 43. Kathy May is 67. Katheryn Ogle is 38. Attorney Wes Stone is 50.

March 16: Ruth Coughlin is 101. Lou Browning III is 50. Andre Canty is 39. Leland Lee Hume is 73. Cheri Schmutzer is 77.

March 17: Retired U.S. Attorney John Gill is 82. Chris Kinney is 65. Catherine Luther is 62. Mary Maddox is 55. Judge Debbie Stevens is 70.

March 18: Mitchell Cox is 42. Turner Emery is 48. Ron Leadbetter is 77. Terry Martin is 74. Dr. Reuben Pelot is 89. Patrick Phillips is 73. Nicholas St. Sauveur is 32. Attorney Thomas S. Scott Jr. is 84. Airport President Patrick Wilson is 56.

March 19: Catherine Porth is 37.

March 20: George Baddour is 71. David Keim is 56. Brittany Schwartz is 37. Steve Triplett is 45. Barron Trump, son of Donald Trump, is 18. Alan Williams is 69.

Victor Ashe is a former Knoxville mayor and former ambassador to Poland. He is a columnist for Shopper News. 

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: U.S. Rep. Mark Green vacillates on border issue – and his constituents