In a stunning announcement on Thurday, Representative Justin Amash announced that he is officially leaving the Republican Party.

Justin Amash is one of the most conservative members in the House of Representatives.

This decision has come after much displeasure with the current political system and politics of the party.

Amash wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post,

“Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party. No matter your circumstance, I’m asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us. I’m asking you to believe that we can do better than this two-party system — and to work toward it. If we continue to take America for granted, we will lose it.”

According to The Hill,

The libertarian congressman, who said he’s become “disenchanted with party politics and frightened by what I see from it,” argued that “the two-party system has evolved into an existential threat to American principles and institutions.”

Amash has fueled speculation in recent weeks that he’s planning to mount a third-party challenge to Trump, whom the Michigan lawmaker has repeatedly criticized in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller‘s report on 2016 election interference.

The Michigan lawmaker drew backlash from members of his own party in May when he said he believed Trump had committed impeachable behavior that was revealed by the Mueller report. He subsequently left the conservative House Freedom Caucus, of which he was a founding member, and gained a pro-Trump primary challenger in Michigan. 

Amash was the first Republican member of Congress to actually join the Democrats in calling for an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

Now the libertarian congressman will be an Independent from here on out.

There has even been speculation that Amash could run against President Trump in this upcoming election as an Independent. I think it is unlikely but we’ll soon find out.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore