Taylor Greene vows to advance effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson
- Greene says she’ll bring her ‘motion to vacate’ to the House floor Monday
- Most fellow Republicans oppose the move
- The Democratic leader says he’ll help kill Greene’s attempt
(NewsNation) — Despite her own party members calling it a waste of time, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to move ahead with her effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The Georgia Republican filed her “motion to vacate” a month ago and said she intends to bring it to the House floor on Monday.
“It’s a horrible idea,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told The Hill. “Moses could not do a better job than what Mike Johnson is doing right now.”
Virginia Republican Bob Good agrees. “She’s not acting in the best interests of President Trump,” he told The Hill on Sunday. “I don’t think this is a good move six months before an election. She’s always been about herself primarily.”
Johnson, himself, has dismissed Greene’s effort, saying he does not consider her a serious lawmaker.
“I don’t think she is proving to be. No. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about her. I gotta do my job. We do the right thing and we let the chips fall where they may,” Johnson said.
Adding to Greene’s challenge: only two fellow House Republicans have said they’ll back her move. And the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said he’ll help kill the motion.
“The time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” Jeffries said earlier this month. “House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against MAGA extremism. We will continue to do just that,” he added.
Greene has blasted Johnson’s cooperation with Democrats to pass a spending bill and the trio of supplemental foreign aid bills benefiting Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. She also opposed the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Greene’s move is allowed thanks to a rule change that lets a single member raise a “privileged motion.” Before that, a House member had to have the backing of their party or caucus to file a motion to vacate. Then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to the change to win the votes needed to become Speaker.