Marjorie Taylor Greene committed to oust the House speaker a month ago: She still hasn't
WASHINGTON – When Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her plans to oust Mike Johnson from the speakership, the conservative agitator committed to follow through on her threats and call a vote on the speaker’s future.
But it’s been more than a month since then and Greene, R-Ga., has yet to force a House vote on removing Johnson, R-La., despite her repeated statements that she will do so – whenever that is.
The long period of time that has elapsed between Greene announcing her plans until now – where she has not moved at all – highlights the political conundrum the second-term lawmaker has found herself in: Barely anyone on Capitol Hill is supportive of her efforts but if she pulls back her threats now, her credibility evaporates.
Lawmakers have noticed and some say Greene has made a severe misstep just seven months after conservatives first pushed out Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speakership and setting off a three-week scramble to find his replacement that meant a vacancy in the job that's second in the line of succession to the presidency.
“I don’t know the strategy behind her,” Rep. Mark Alford, R-Texas, told USA TODAY of Greene’s push to fire Johnson. “I know she’s frustrated ... I just don’t think that’s the way to go about getting the results you want, but that’s up to Marjorie.”
“If she doesn’t (do it), I’ll tell you right now, I think she loses a lot of credibility in a lot of people’s eyes,” Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, said. “It’s like the boy who cried wolf, do it or don’t do it.”
Greene’s push “utterly collapsed,” Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., said. “She’s not influencing anything.”
Greene filed what is known as a “motion to vacate” against the speaker in March, a process that could forcibly remove Johnson from the speakership. But her effort appears to have gained much more pushback than Greene might have expected.
While it was unsurprising that the majority of House Republicans would stand by Johnson, ultraconservatives and House Democrats both also came out against Greene’s removal threat.
Weary of starting another leadership crisis just six months before the 2024 elections, most hard-right lawmakers have said they would rather litigate a speaker fight in the next Congress. That strategy suggests Johnson would face a direct challenge to his speakership from an alternative candidate as early as January 2025, rather than a vote on ousting him smack in the middle of the current session.
“I cannot defend the speaker or his actions over the previous six months and I do think there will be a speaker contest in November that I don’t believe he will be able to win,” Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., told USA TODAY. Good, the chair of the conservative, far-right House Freedom Caucus, called the motion to vacate a “very foolish, self centered thing to do.”
And Democratic leadership has vowed to kill Greene’s effort if she ever calls it up for a vote. Not only that, but Donald Trump has defended the speaker and has attempted to tell Greene to back off, according to Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., a former Interior secretary during the Trump administration. Zinke said the former president “was in communication with Marjorie and advised her to focus on getting things done and not a distraction, removing the speaker.”
Republicans officials also voiced opposition to Greene's motion to vacate during last weekend's GOP donor retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.
"We need to flip the Senate, and we need to expand our majority in the House. We're not going to do that if we're not unified," Michael Whatley, the chair of the Republican National Committee, told NBC News.
Greene has still noted she could call up a vote to oust Johnson at any time, but she has yet to do so even though she said last week in a press conference she would be “absolutely calling it” and that she “can’t wait” to see lawmakers support Johnson.
But on Monday, Greene, along with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who joined her campaign to oust Johnson, met with the speaker for two hours to outline a set of demands – which Massie characterized as “suggestions” – that could get her to cool it with the ouster threat. The two, along with Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., met with the speaker again on Tuesday for roughly an hour and a half.
Those demands are: a commitment for no further U.S. aid to Ukraine, a commitment to defund special counsel investigations that brought historic federal criminal charges against Trump, a pledge to bring legislation to the floor only with support of the majority of Republicans and automatic spending cuts if Congress can not pass a full set of individual spending bills to fund the government.
Greene did not offer a timeline on when she would like to see changes, saying on Tuesday it’s “pretty short.” There are no specific bills either that Greene outlined that could appease her. When pressed on how Johnson could possibly meet her demands, Greene responded to reporters that they “should go ask Mike Johnson how he’s gonna get this done. He’s speaker of the House.”
“Right now the ball is in Mike Johnson’s court,” Greene said.
Johnson, when told Greene wanted an answer quickly, seemed to roll his eyes and crack a smile: “We’re gonna process these ideas just like all ideas and all input from members.”
The ambiguity of Greene’s demands, and how they could be satisfied, has prompted speculation from members that the conservative rabble rouser is simply looking for an off-ramp to avoid a public defeat on the House floor after it became clear there is little support from anyone to remove the current speaker.
“Sleeves off your vest,” Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., told USA TODAY, saying Johnson wouldn’t be giving any real concessions to Greene, even if he did satisfy her. “Sometimes in negotiation, you gotta give sleeves off your vest.”
“It’s like a horrible syndicated TV series that just won’t come to an end,” Molinaro quipped of Greene’s threats to the speaker. But at least, he added, “it sounds like we’re in the final throes of cancellation and the season finale.”
Contributing: David Jackson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why hasn’t Marjorie Taylor Greene called a vote to oust Mike Johnson?