Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Sunday that a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is coming “regardless” of what he decides to do in the near future.
“Mike Johnson’s Speakership is over. He needs to do the right thing and allow us to move forward in a controlled process, and if he doesn’t do so, he will be vacated,” she said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
When asked by “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo about whether Ms. Greene is going ahead with her previously announced motion to vacate, Ms. Greene said that “it’s coming regardless of what Mike Johnson decides to do.” Her motion to vacate was introduced last month after Mr. Johnson backed a resolution that the House passed to avoid a partial government shutdown.
“And we have three more Republicans joining us for a special election coming up very soon. So, people need to know this can happen,” she said.
Previously, she described the motion as “basically a warning,” but she brought it up again after Mr. Johnson backed a standalone package to Ukraine, Israel, and other countries despite his previous assurances that such a bill would have to be connected to funding for U.S. border security measures.
The House speaker, who was elected in December of last year, “has completely betrayed Republican voters all over the country, and he is absolutely working for the Democrats, pipe-passing the Biden administration’s agenda,” Ms. Greene argued Sunday. “So, this is a Speakership that is completely overwhelmed. It’s only Mike Johnson, is the one that tried to hang on to it and is in complete denial.”
“Those on the left, those on the right, the uniparty that’s in control of our government are the ones that have inflicted the American people with nearly $35 trillion in debt, ripped our border wide open,” she said, adding that she has a different plan. It’s not clear when she will bring the motion to vacate.
“Our plan is this: We have to give the American people a reason to trust us and fight for us. The American people are supporting President Trump to be the next president of the United States because they’ve seen him in action,“ Ms. Greene said. ”He fought against the Democrat agenda. He put America first. They desperately want him to lead this country again because they trust him, and they know he will do that.”
But some Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), said they would move to back Mr. Johnson after the Ukraine deal was passed. There has been speculation that Mr. Johnson could rely on some Democrats to keep his job.
Mr. Khanna, who describes himself as a “progressive Democrat,” said that Mr. Johnson needs “credit” for the aid package, adding that he would vote to shelve a motion to vacate him.
Currently, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) have publicly said they would back Ms. Greene’s move, although more could soon join her.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Mr. Johnson appears likely to keep his job if a motion is submitted. “I don’t think you’d lose very many Republicans,” he said, adding that still, “it doesn’t take very many Democrats to either not vote or oppose it.”
“We’re in a bipartisan era in a strange way where Democrats will be able to back the speaker on the other side of the aisle and not have him vacated out of the chair,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) also told “This Week.” Mr. Johnson, he claimed, is “in good shape” at the moment despite the ouster threat.
The House is currently in recess until the end of this month.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced the Senate would begin procedural votes on the package this Tuesday, saying that U.S. allies “have been waiting for this moment.” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) said he would support the bill and that it is ”once again the Senate’s turn to make history.”
Some Republican senators have said they won’t back unconditional military aid to Ukraine. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has argued that Ukraine lacks the manpower it needs to successfully push Russian forces out of its territory, saying that Kyiv “needs more soldiers than it can field, even with draconian conscription policies.”
