Here We Go Again?: Marjorie Taylor Greene Files Motion To Oust Speaker Mike Johnson

Ted Johnson
·3 min read
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UPDATED: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion Friday that could lead to a vote to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, less than a half year into his tenure.

Greene’s action came just as the House passed a $1.2 trillion package to fund the government through September and forestall a shutdown. The bill only would have passed with Democratic votes, with a majority of Republicans against it.

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“OK, deep breath America, here we go again,” CNN anchor Dana Bash told viewers after Manu Raju and other reporters interviewed Greene on the steps of the Capitol afterward.

No vote on Greene’s motion to vacate is scheduled, as she did not seek a “privileged” resolution that would have triggered a two-legislative day timeframe for a floor vote. That is what happened in October, when Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) led a successful effort to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker. What followed was a protracted process by Republicans to come up with a new speaker, with three potential candidates faltering before the party settled on Johnson. He was elected with all Republicans supporting him at the time.

“We need a Speaker of the House that knows how to negotiate, knows how to walk in the room, knows how to hold the line, and knows how to defend America first and the values and the policies that President Trump will bring,” Greene told reporters.

Greene did not say when or if she would try to force a vote. “I want to have conversations and I want to hear from others,” she said, adding that she has talked to “many” GOP members who “are breathing a sigh of relief.”

“We need a new speaker,” she said. “This is not personal against Mike Johnson. He’s a very good man, and I have respect for him as a person. But he is not doing the job. The proof is in the vote count today.”

There are some indications that Democrats may not all line up against Johnson, as happened to McCarthy, if a motion to vacate comes to the floor. That may depend on whether Johnson agrees to schedule as vote on a Ukrainian aid package.

Greene was one of McCarthy’s defenders during the vote to oust him in October. She also had backed him as speaker when he was elected the previous January following 15 roll call votes.

The House is due to go on a two-week recess starting this afternoon.

Shortly after Greene announced her ouster effort, word came that the GOP’s majority was going to be even more tenuous. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) announced that he would leave the House on April 19, rather than serve out the remainder of his term. That will shrink the GOP majority to just one seat. Gallagher, who had previously announced that he would not seek reelection, has chaired the House Select Committee on China. He and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) recently championed House legislation to get ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban in the United States.

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