Marjorie Taylor Greene struggles to find GOP support for deposing Mike Johnson
WASHINGTON â Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is struggling to find allies in her push to overthrow Speaker Mike Johnson after he put Ukraine funding to a vote, with many fellow hard-right Republicans saying they oppose her cause after a weeklong recess.
âI oppose a motion to vacate at the current time,â said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who led the âmotion to vacateâ that ousted Kevin McCarthy as speaker and has been critical of Johnson, R-La.
“I think that’s pretty much not gonna happen. We’re at too much of a slim majority,” added another Florida Republican, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who has been highly critical of Johnson but is worried Democrats could end up in the majority after another chaotic coup.
“I don’t support what he’s doing; he went back on his word to us,” she said of Johnson. “However, I’m not going to risk giving the gavel to a Democrat.”
Gaetz and Luna weren’t alone. Numerous conservative lawmakers who have blasted the recent Johnson-blessed spending bills and foreign aid package said as the House returned from a weeklong recess that they arenât ready to support Greeneâs push to remove Johnson. They cited a number of reasons: They worry it would disrupt GOP unity ahead of the election, they fear there isnât a better replacement, they believe itâd fail due to a thinning majority, and some say the time isn’t right.
âIâm not hearing a lot of critical mass for it,â said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who added that he doesnât expect the motion to come to the floor. âIâm not hearing any chatter.â
Asked if heâd vote to remove Johnson as he did McCarthy, Biggs told reporters on Monday: âI wonât answer a hypothetical. What Iâve said is: Itâs not the time. Although Iâm profoundly frustrated, disappointed and disgruntled, itâs not the time.â
He echoed Luna’s worries that the House might end up electing a Democrat as speaker because Republicans are on the brink of a âone-vote majorityâ and if âone person is out sick,â they could end up being in the minority that day.
Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., said the motion would fail if it came up.
âIâve left the door open, but, one I donât think itâs good timing. Two, if it was triggered, I donât think it would pass,â he said. âI think that the Democrats would keep Speaker Johnson. I think they would save him. So I donât think it would pass. And furthermore, even if it did pass, I donât have much confidence with the conference that we have that we could get a more conservative speaker for the American people.â
Crane said he doesnât expect it to come to a vote, though he hadnât heard that directly from Greene. âItâs the little rumor mill,â he said. âI have not talked to Marjorie about this.â
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said heâs deeply frustrated by the speakerâs actions. âYou just funded Ukraine. You just funded Israel. You just funded Hamas while you were funding Israel,â he said, referring to humanitarian aid for Gaza civilians. âYou just funded a $1.7 trillion massive expenditure of government. You gave up all leverage that you have to deal with the border. So now we’ve got to get busy trying to convince people to elect us so we can do better next year.â
Still, Roy said heâs more focused on the upcoming issues like passing a farm bill and the next round of government funding in October.
âWeâve been home, weâve been talking to constituents. My constituents fully agree with my concerns, and frankly, made it known that theyâre angry about it,â Roy said. âThey also want us to unify and beat Democrats. So weâve got to do those two things. I think we can unify and beat Democrats with a clear agenda. And I think thatâs what we got to focus on right now.â
Republicans in competitive districts are eager to put the issue to rest and focus on the upcoming election.
âIf this is real, itâs ridiculous, absurd and it undermines the institution and our work. If itâs a bluff, itâs a horrific abuse and waste of time,â said Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y. âAnd either way, put it to bed. Letâs move on.â
Meanwhile, the top three House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., issued an extraordinary joint statement Tuesday vowing that they would vote to save Johnson if Greene brought up her motion, saying âthe time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction.â
âWe will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greeneâs Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.â
Greene missed votes on Monday, avoiding a pack of reporters searching for her, and her office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the Democrats’ statement. But she hasn’t taken the threat of ousting Johnson off the table.
âJohnson will do whatever Biden/Schumer want in order to keep the Speakerâs gavel in his hand, but he has completely sold out the Republican voters who gave us the majority,â Greene wrote on X.
âHis days as Speaker are numbered,” she continued.
Only two conservative colleagues â Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. â have co-sponsored her resolution. But neither gave clear answers about whether a vacate vote would happen soon.
“My understanding is Democrats are going to cover for him, so we’ll play the psychological game,” Gosar told NBC News, adding of Johnson’s future: “The seeds have been sown.”
Massie also had no updates when asked if or when it would come up.
âWeâre not going to talk about it right now,â he said, adding that heâs talked to constituents and âI havenât gotten any blowback.â
But Massie held his ground that Johnson should go.
âHeâs not inspiring anybody to give us the majority if heâs going to be sharing the majority with Democrats,â he said, accusing Johnson of deploying âweapons of mass distractionâ from his policies, like his visit to Columbia to chastise campus protests.
Massie said Trumpâs lukewarm support for Johnson is revealing.
âSometimes by faintly praising somebody, you can kind of doom them. And I havenât seen a full-throated defense of Mike Johnson because, ultimately, Trump doesnât like a loser. And heâs, I think heâs worried about Mike Johnson and tying his future to that. And it would be a bad move to even campaign with him,â the Kentucky Republican said.
âMike Johnson is only going to drag Trump down.â