By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After weeks of a looming threat to oust her own party’s Speaker, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R- GA) announced this morning she will force a vote to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R- LA) next week.
The Georgia Republican said Speaker Johnson has betrayed Republicans in Congress and across the country.
“Next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate. Absolutely calling it,” said Rep. Greene at a Wednesday morning press conference.
Current House rules allow a single member to force a floor vote on the motion to vacate. The rule stems from a deal former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R- CA) made with hardliners in January 2023.
Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R- KY) have threatened a motion to vacate the chair ever since it was clear that Speaker Johnson planned to work with Democrats to pass a $95 billion foreign aid package.
That package, signed by President Biden one week ago, includes $61 billion for Ukraine.
“The ‘uniparty’ is “make Ukraine great again,” the ‘uniparty’ is all about funding every single foreign war,” said Greene.
Greene and Massie say they’ll give Johnson the weekend to resign, but Johnson reiterated this week he has no plans to step down.
“I’m not focused on that at all. I’m focused on getting the job done and getting legislation passed. What the country needs right now is a functioning Congress. They need a Congress that works well, works together, and does not hamper its own ability to solve these problems,” said Johnson on Tuesday. “This is a very serious time for the country. We’re not playing games here. The world is on fire.”
Last fall, it took Republicans several weeks to settle on Johnson as the new House Speaker after eight House Republicans and Democrats voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
This time around, Democratic leaders hint they may provide a lifeline for Johnson to avoid a similar situation.
“With respect to this motion that she could bring up, we want to turn the page and we want to move on,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D- CA), the House Democratic Caucus Chair, on Tuesday. “We don’t want to turn the clock back and let Marjorie Taylor Greene dictate the schedule and the calendar of what’s ahead.”
When asked about who a potential replacement could be, Reps. Greene and Massie did not provide any names. Most House Republicans and even some Democrats have been outspoken against the motion to vacate, saying they would support Speaker Johnson.