Kevin McCarthy Urges Mike Johnson to Speak With Marjorie Taylor Greene Amid Ouster Motion

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (L) embraces Majorie Taylor Greene (R) in the House Chamber during the fourth day of elections for speaker of the House at the Capitol Building, on Jan. 6, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has urged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to find common ground with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), whose motion to vacate his speakership is pending in the House.

“The one thing I’ve always found about Marjorie is she’s a very serious legislator that deals with policy,” Mr. McCarthy said during an interview on Fox News’s “One Nation” on April 8. “And the best way to deal with anyone like that is [to] sit down and talk to them.”

Ms. Greene filed a motion on March 22 to vacate the speakership, which was prompted by Mr. Johnson’s collaboration with Democrats to pass a $1.2 trillion spending package and avoid a partial government shutdown.

At the time, the congresswoman declined to make the measure privileged, which would have forced a vote. Instead, she said that the motion was a “pink slip” and a warning to the House speaker, but she has not ruled out forcing a vote later. Ms. Greene said passing the spending package was “a betrayal of the American people” and “a betrayal of the Republican voters.”

Ms. Greene’s move was the same maneuver used by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) against Mr. McCarthy in October, which ended Mr. McCarthy’s speakership after less than one year. Eight Republicans joined Democrats for the vote. Despite her alignment with Mr. Gaetz on many issues, Ms. Greene did not vote to remove Mr. McCarthy.

Last month, Mr. Johnson said he exchanged text messages with Ms. Greene and planned to meet her in early April to discuss her concerns. Mr. Johnson indicated that he understood Ms. Greene’s frustration over the appropriations bills, but with a very narrow GOP majority in the House, sometimes the Republicans could not get the perfect bill.

In the interview, Mr. McCarthy indicated that Ms. Greene has policy issues and suggested that the pair should discuss them with each other to find common ground.

“I don’t believe the Speaker has spoken to Marjorie. I think if you sit down and discuss, you will understand you have Congress that you don’t control all. You have to find common ground in between, and that can be done. Those are two conservatives, they can do it,” Mr. McCarthy said.

In an April 3 interview with CNN, Ms. Greene criticized Mr. Johnson for his role in negotiating the spending bill. She pointed out that less than 36 hours after the bill was released, it was put on the floor, which was a violation of the Republican Party’s pledge to give three days to members to review any bill.

GOP voters are “furious that our so-called Christian conservative, Republican Speaker of the House did this to them,” she said. “People are fed up with Republicans that say one thing and turn around and literally join the flock and just continue the same old [expletive] everybody’s tired of.”

“And here, Mike Johnson, he’s literally turned into Mitch McConnell’s twin and worse. He’s a Democrat ... There’s not even any daylight between him and Nancy Pelosi at this point.”

Ms. Greene also dismissed criticism that her motion against Mr. Johnson could land the GOP speakership to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) due to the slim Republican majority in the lower chamber. She argued that GOP lawmakers who left the office are to blame. She made the comments during an interview on the conservative cable channel Real America’s Voice on March 26.

Former GOP Lawmaker: Greene’s Measure Would not Get Very Far

Meanwhile, Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) said he did not think Ms. Greene’s effort would go far in the House.

In an interview on MSNBC on April 7, Mr. Curbelo said he believed Republicans and Democrats did not want to go through more chaos, referring to the House struggling without a speaker for three weeks, as happened with Mr. McCarthy.

“So, I do think that even if Marjorie Taylor Greene does move forward with this, I don’t think it’s going to get very far. Mike Johnson has learned what every other Speaker has shown here, at least Republican Speakers. In order to make the House a stable place that can pass big pieces of legislation, bipartisan cooperation is needed,” he said.

Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.