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Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic nominee for vice president who later became a political independent, died of complications from a fall, his family announced Wednesday.

"Senator Lieberman's love of God, his family, and America endured throughout his life of service in the public interest," his family said in a written statement.

Lieberman, 82, a former Connecticut state senator and attorney general who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988, developed a reputation for bipartisanship during his years in Washington. Lieberman was also the first Jewish-American candidate nominated on a major party ticket.

Progressive US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the Israeli military campaign in Gaza an “unfolding genocide” in a scathing speech that demanded the Joe Biden White House suspend aid to Israel’s armed forces.

“As we speak, in this moment, 1.1 million innocents in Gaza are at famine’s door,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a speech on the House floor on Friday.

Citing 30,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and noting 70% were women and children, she continued: “A famine … is being intentionally precipitated through the blocking of food and global humanitarian assistance by leaders in the Israeli government. This is a mass starvation of people, engineered and orchestrated.

“This was all accomplished – much of this was accomplished – with US resources and weapons. If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes.”

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House Republicans are lashing out at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over her surprise bid to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from power, warning that it threatens to divide an already warring GOP conference ahead of elections when the House is up for grabs.

Greene told reporters she is not bringing her motion to vacate resolution to the floor immediately — “I don’t have a timeline” — but the mere idea of removing another Speaker has infuriated many fellow Republicans, who are aiming their fire at Greene.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who spearheaded the successful motion to vacate against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), told Politico “I’m not going to question her decision, I’m just not ready to support a motion to vacate.” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who also voted to oust McCarthy, said he is “currently” against booting Johnson, though he echoed Greene’s frustration with Johnson’s handling of government funding.

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The Republican majority in the US House of Representatives is set to dwindle further with the early exit of Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, once a rising star of the party.

A former US marine who twice deployed to Iraq, Gallagher, 40, is a relatively moderate voice in party at the mercy of the far right.

He had already announced his decision to retire but in a statement on Friday he said: “After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position … effective 19 April. I’ve worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline.”

The announcement came shortly after Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, an extremist even in a party held hostage by its far right, responded to the passage of a Democrat-backed funding bill by filing a motion to remove Mike Johnson, the speaker from Louisiana.

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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday predicted that the House will “probably” change the rules around the motion to vacate in the next Congress, months after eight Republicans banded with Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) using the procedural maneuver.

Johnson — speaking at a kickoff press conference during the House GOP’s annual retreat in West Virginia — said he is not personally advocating for a change to the motion to vacate, but added it’s being openly discussed among lawmakers.

“The motion to vacate is something that comes up a lot amongst members and discussion. … I expect there will probably be a change to that as well. But just so you know, I’ve never advocated for that; I’m not one who’s making it into this issue, because I don’t think it is one for now,” Johnson said.

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) will retire from Congress next week, he said Tuesday, a stunning announcement that will narrow the House GOP’s razor-thin majority even further.

Buck — who has become known for breaking from his party on various issues and criticizing Republicans on election denialism — announced last year that he would depart the House at the end of his current term, but expedited that timeline Tuesday.

“It has been an honor to serve the people of Colorado’s 4th District in Congress for the past 9 years. I want to thank them for their support and encouragement throughout the years. Today, I am announcing that I will depart Congress at the end of next week. I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado with my family,” he wrote in a statement.