Rep. Greene Will Force Vote to Oust Johnson Next Week

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks during a press conference about next week’s motion to vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in Washington on May 1, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) says she will force a vote on a measure to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) next week.

Ms. Greene, joined by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) at an early morning press conference, announced that she would begin the process to bring her motion to vacate Mr. Johnson’s chair to the floor next week.

“Next week, I am gonna be calling this motion to vacate. Absolutely calling it,” she said.

“I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may.”

Mr. Massie said he encouraged members and Mr. Johnson to take the weekend to consider how they want to vote.

An additional member who backs the motion to vacate, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), was unable to attend the press conference.

“This motion is wrong for the Republican conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country,” Mr. Johnson responded in a statement.

He has “become a man that none of us recognize,” according to Ms. Greene, who voted for Mr. Johnson in October 2023.

“I voted for Mike Johnson, because his voting record before he became speaker was conservative,” she said. “He voted against funding Ukraine. He was solidly pro-life. He voted to secure the border. He voted to fight against Democrats, fight against the witch hunt against President Trump.”

This comes after Democrats announced that they would vote to table her motion, all but guaranteeing its failure.

Ms. Greene and Mr. Massie cited a series of actions by Mr. Johnson that led them to the decision to move forward.

The three main grievances they cited were Mr. Johnson’s $1.2 trillion minibus spending bill, his vote to kill a warrant requirement for a controversial spying authority, and, most recently, his passage of a $95 billion foreign aid bill that included tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine.

Following Mr. Johnson’s move in March to pass $1.2 trillion of government funding with broad Democrat support, Ms. Greene introduced a motion to vacate against him, which she described as “a warning” or “a pink slip.”

“I entered a motion to vacate but I didn’t call it for a vote,“ she said on May 1. ”I was controlled, I was responsible. I was being conscious and caring about my conference and our majority. It was a warning to stop serving the Democrats and support our Republican conference and support our agenda. And he didn’t do it.”

Mr. Massie said, “I think she’s gone about this in a very reasonable way. She’s given the speaker multiple chances to resign, to leave. And instead, he’s clinging to power by clinging to Democrats.”

Yesterday, Democrat leadership announced that Democrats would bail Mr. Johnson out should Ms. Greene bring her motion to vacate to the floor.

“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” Democratic leadership wrote in a statement. “We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”

When Ms. Greene brings the motion to the floor, leadership will be required to hold a vote on it within a few days.

At that point, a member will bring a motion to table the measure, which is all but guaranteed to succeed, averting a formal vote on the issue altogether.