Mark Meadows resigns from Congress to begin role as White House chief of staff

Meadows, who first joined the Congress in 2013, announced that he would not be seeking reelection for his seat in December. Instead of carrying out his full term, he accepted Trump’s offer and started making his transition from Congress to the White House shortly after the announcement was made.

The incoming chief of staff will take over the reins as the Trump administration continues to navigate the coronavirus pandemic. In early March, Meadows opted to self-quarantine for 14 days after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for the virus despite testing negative for COVID-19 himself.

While it’s a turbulent time to be in the White House, Meadows will likely see a healthy pay increase. As a member of Congress, he earned $174,000 per year. Mulvaney, who will be leaving the White House to represent the United States as special envoy to Northern Ireland, was making more than $200,000 as White House chief of staff.

Meadows is one of 23 experienced Republicans to announce he would not be seeking reelection in 2020. Others include Pennsylvania Rep. James Sensenbrenner, who held his seat since 1978, and Texas Rep. Will Hurd, who represents a district Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

UPDATE: Meadows made his resignation from Congress official with a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In it, he stated, “Serving the people of North Carolina’s eleventh district for these last seven years has been the honor of my life. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity.”