{"id":38997,"date":"2026-02-27T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/02\/27\/dying-congressmans-grim-diagnosis-hands-democrats-a-path-to-seizing-back-the-house-majority\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:00:00","slug":"dying-congressmans-grim-diagnosis-hands-democrats-a-path-to-seizing-back-the-house-majority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/02\/27\/dying-congressmans-grim-diagnosis-hands-democrats-a-path-to-seizing-back-the-house-majority\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying congressman&#8217;s grim diagnosis hands Democrats a path to seizing back the House majority"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"js-article-text\">\n<ul>\n<li class><strong><a class rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/link.news.dailymail.co.uk\/join\/4w5\/us-weekly-sign-up?utm_source=dailymail.co.uk&#038;utm_medium=organic_editorial&#038;utm_campaign=conversion_newsletter&#038;utm_term=usedpicks_signup&#038;utm_budgetpot=organic\">Sign up for our US Editor&#8217;s Picks newsletter to get all the best exclusive stories<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-962\/jon-michael-raasch.html\">JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?screen_name=JMRaasch&#038;tw_p=followbutton\"><span><\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n<p><span> <span>Published:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2026-02-27T18:09:02+0000\"> 13:09 EST, 27 February 2026 <\/time> <\/span> | <span> <span>Updated:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2026-02-27T20:00:48+0000\"> 15:00 EST, 27 February 2026 <\/time> <\/span> <\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>A Republican who may have a terminal diagnosis has been asked to hold onto his congressional seat to help the<a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/republicans\/index.html\" id=\"mol-159cdac0-1401-11f1-8e5c-8d372f1aa11b\">GOP<\/a>cling to control on<a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/capitol-hill\/index.html\" id=\"mol-159f99e0-1401-11f1-8e5c-8d372f1aa11b\" class>Capitol<\/a> Hill.<\/p>\n<p>Representative Neal Dunn of <a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/florida\/index.html\" id=\"mol-159fc0f0-1401-11f1-8e5c-8d372f1aa11b\">Florida<\/a> may have a terminal illness, Speaker <a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/uspolitics\/mike-johnson\/index.html\" id=\"mol-15916910-1401-11f1-8e5c-8d372f1aa11b\" class>Mike Johnson<\/a> told a group of GOP donors at a retreat in Florida on Friday, Punchbowl News first reported.<\/p>\n<p>Dunn, 73, has said <a target=\"_self\" class href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-15551441\/republican-majority-hangs-balance-neal-dunn.html\">he will not run for reelection<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He also has ruled out resigning before his term ends in early 2027.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I have no comment on personal issues such as Dr Dunn&#8217;s health. He has been working as usual,&#8217; a spokesman for Dunn told the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;As a dedicated public servant, he will remain in <a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/us-congress\/index.html\" id=\"mol-159c1770-1401-11f1-8e5c-8d372f1aa11b\" class>Congress<\/a> to represent his constituents through the end of this term,&#8217; his representative said earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>But the announcement from Johnson that Dunn has a terminal illness underscores just how far the GOP is willing to go to maintain control of the House.<\/p>\n<p>With the current 218-214 split, losing just two seats could mean forfeiting the GOP majority and deadlocking on party-line votes. Democrats could tie up the Republican agenda for the remainder of the year if Dunn retires early and if liberals get an unexpected special election win this year.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Congressman Neal Dunn, 73, may have a terminal diagnosis, it was reported on Friday<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Republican representative, of Florida, has already said he will not run for reelection<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Dunn&#8217;s potential early retirement could throw a wrench in Speaker Mike Johnson&#8217;s control over the House of Representatives and tie up legislation pushed by President Trump. Dunn says he will not go early<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dunn seemingly will be spending his time with his colleagues on Capitol Hill, defending the Republican majority from falling to Democrats, despite the potential diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p>However, a special election for ex-congresswoman<a target=\"_self\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/tvshowbiz\/marjorie-taylor-greene\/index.html\" id=\"mol-daa5fb10-078d-11f1-953c-efa0edb90d73\" class>Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a>&#8216;s former seat, set for March, should add another Republican to the House, given how conservative the district is. A likely runoff could delay the newest member&#8217;s swearing in until April.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson is alreadyfacing difficulties passing any legislation without getting the entire GOP conference on board with his priorities.<\/p>\n<p>This has led to some of the longest votes in US history, forcing Johnson to keep votes open for hours until he gets everyone to back his agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Dunn&#8217;s health has been in question for some time.<\/p>\n<p>This month, he has been spotted wearing a face mask on Capitol Hill, setting off speculation about his health.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Don&#8217;t I look good?&#8217; Dunn told reporters when asked about his health.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Ron DeSantis&#8217;s wife, Casey DeSantis, may be keen on running in Dunn&#8217;s district, Florida Politics reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                                                                                                                                  <ad-slot position=\"smart_feed\"><\/ad-slot>                                                                <ad-slot position=\"after_article\"><\/ad-slot>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up for our US Editor&#8217;s Picks newsletter to get all the best exclusive stories By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 13:09 EST, 27 February 2026 | Updated: 15:00 EST, 27 February 2026 A Republican who may have a terminal diagnosis has been asked to hold onto his congressional seat to help theGOPcling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-donald-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}