On Monday, Republican Representative Victoria Spartz vowed to resign if a national debt commission is not established by the end of the year.
Spartz represents Indiana’s 5th Congressional District and is a native of Nosivka, Ukraine. She has clashed repeatedly with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California in recent months on the idea of establishing a debt commission to reduce federal budget deficits.
On Monday, Spartz said that if such an entity was not established by the end of the year, she was seriously considering resigning from her position because of the enormous personal toll she had taken in pushing for its establishment.
Spartz has been disappointed that the House GOP platform does not include a debt commission. She made strong claims about Congress two weeks ago, saying things like the founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they could see how this government body is betraying the Republic for personal political gain.
Spartz has already announced that she will not run for reelection at the end of her current term, and her resignation would simply speed up that process. The Indiana Capital Chronicle reports that the representative first announced her plans in February for the same reason: a desire to spend more time with her family.
The congresswoman then commented, “It has been my privilege representing Hoosiers in the Indiana State Senate and U.S. Congress, and I appreciate the tremendous support on the ground.” Seven years in office in 2024 and more than a decade in Republican politics will be a significant milestone for me. Many difficult battles were won on the people’s behalf, and I intend to continue that trend over the next two years. But it’s hard being a working mom, and I want to be there for my two high school daughters at home so that I won’t seek public office in 2024.
If a vacancy occurs in the House of Representatives during the first year of a congressional session, a special election must be called; if the emptiness happens during the second year of a legislative session, the seat must be filled in the next general election.
Spartz’s resignation on or after January 3 would trigger the latter policy, effectively costing the Republican majority in the House of Representatives their seat for the next twelve months. Spartz’s district leans Republican by 11 percentage points more than the national average, making a Democratic victory implausible.
