When U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her resignation from Congress on November 21, it sent shockwaves through Northwest Georgia. When she appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on December 8 and publicly broke with Donald Trump, it stunned the nation.
Those two moments made Greene the undeniable choice for The Georgia Sun’s 2025 Newsmaker of the Year.
The Resignation
On November 21, Greene announced she would resign from Congress effective January 5, 2026, ending her five-year tenure representing Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. The announcement came without warning and left constituents scrambling to understand why their controversial but popular congresswoman was stepping down.
The resignation triggered a special election for late February, leaving Northwest Georgia without representation in Congress for several weeks.
The “60 Minutes” Interview
Two weeks after her resignation announcement, Greene sat down with CBS’s Lesley Stahl for a “60 Minutes” interview that aired December 8. In the interview, Greene revealed tensions with Trump over the Epstein Files legislation and accused him of abandoning the MAGA movement’s core principles.
The interview dominated political news and drew a furious response from Trump, who attacked Greene and CBS on social media.
A Year of Headlines
The resignation and interview capped a year in which Greene consistently made news across Georgia and the nation.
In January, her bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” passed the House. In February, she criticized federal workers. In March, she defended Tesla and Elon Musk while blaming Hollywood for shaping American views on Russia.
She proposed legislation targeting weather modification practices. In September, following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, she renewed her call for a “national divorce” between red and blue states.
Greene joined Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie in championing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed the House 427-1 in November. The bipartisan legislation required the Justice Department to release records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
In December, she attacked House Speaker Mike Johnson, accusing him of taking orders from the White House.
Why Greene Matters
For five years, Marjorie Taylor Greene represented Northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional District—a largely white, working-class area with a median household income of $42,700. She passed legislation, championed causes, and consistently generated headlines.
But what made her Georgia’s newsmaker in 2025 was how she left: with a surprise resignation and a public break from the president she’d once championed. Her departure raised questions about her future, about the Republican Party’s direction, and about what really happened between her and Trump.
Greene’s resignation takes effect January 5, 2026. Northwest Georgia will choose her successor in a special election in late February.
That’s why The Georgia Sun recognizes Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene as the 2025 Newsmaker of the Year. In a year full of consequential political figures and events, no one from Georgia commanded more attention or sparked more debate than the congresswoman who walked away from Washington and publicly challenged Donald Trump.
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