Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yells as President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address Photo: Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK
House Republicans have been “dreading” their return to Washington D.C. after a two-week break because now they have to deal with far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and her threat to kick out House Speaker Mike Johnson because he’s not transphobic enough for her.
Now, she’s focused on Johnson’s pledge to consider a bill that would fund Ukraine’s continued defense against Russia’s military invasion. In February, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill which would provide $60 billion in new funds for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel to attack Gaza, and also $9 billion for Gaza to deal with the humanitarian devestation of the U.S.-funded attack. Johnson must now either vote on that bill or create a counter-proposal to satisfy Greene and other far-right legislators.
Greene and her far-right colleagues have opposed funding Ukraine, saying that the U.S. must do more to secure its southern border against an “invasion” of Central and Southern American immigrants. Greene and her allies, like former President Donald Trump, have characterized the immigrants as murderers and drug dealers of the deadly opiod fentanyl rather than as people fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries.
With a slim Republican majority in the House, Johnson will likely need to appeal to Democrat representatives, who largely support funding for Ukraine, to pass any funding bill. This has compelled Greene to continue her threats against Johnson. Over the recess, she repeatedly blasted him on the social media platform X for allegedly siding with Democrats in aiding Ukraine and undocumented immigrant “illegals.”
“Who is Mike Johnson working for? It’s clearly not the American people,” she wrote in an April 4 post. “Our Republican Speaker of the House is upsetting many of our members by relying on Democrats to pass major bills and working with Dems by giving them everything they want,” she wrote in an April 8 post.
“Do you see the difference between ‘Republican’ Speaker Johnson and [former] Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi? That’s right, there isn’t one!We need a new Speaker of the House!!” she wrote on April 5. She even complained about Johnson in an April 4 broadcast with anti-LGBTQ+ former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
She has yet to ask for the House to recognize her filing, worried that it could result in a Democratic Speaker if Republicans remain divided on who to choose as their next Speaker. Whenever the House formally recognizes Greene’s motion to vacate the speakership, the chamber will have two days to consider whether to take action on it.
In late 2023, Republican House members adopted a rule that allows them to easily oust their speaker if just one House member wants to. The rule was used to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in late 2023 after he worked with Democrats to pass a budget bill, something Johnson is now accused of doing. It’s unclear who Republicans might choose as Johnson’s replacement, seeing as Johnson was literally the fifth choice for Speaker.
With only seven months left until the general election in November, some Republicans are worried that kicking out the Speaker will “further expose the chronic disarray in the House Republican Conference and the difficulty it has had in governing,” The Washington Post reported. The publication said GOP House members are “dreading” their return to the legislative chamber as a result.
Among the nervous Republicans is Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD). He called Greene’s plan “a terrible threat” for Johnson“who is honestly trying to figure out a way forward.”
“There is a 100% chance that after the motion to vacate, we will be left with a speaker that is less conservative than Mike Johnson, and for people like me who want to secure conservative victories, that would be a tragedy,” he told the Post. “It would be disruptive to our nation and it would set back the cause for those of us who are interested in reducing the size, scope and intrusion of government.”
Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) also echoed similar worries. “You can’t let certain people who just don’t like this or that decision dictate the program,” he told the aforementioned publication. “It certainly doesn’t give anybody a reason to continue [to vote for] House Republicans in the majority. It just continues to demonstrate that we can’t govern.”
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) also called Greene’s move a “mistake.” “I consider Marjorie Taylor Greene to be my friend. She’s still my friend. But she just made a big mistake,” he said, according to The Hill. “To think that one of our Republican colleagues would call for his ouster right now — it’s really, it’s abhorrent to me, and I oppose it.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said, “It’s not only idiotic, but it actually does not do anything to advance the conservative movement. And in fact, it undermines the country and our majority.”
Rep. Greg Pence (R-IN) said, “This isn’t good for the party. When I go home, people are tuning out what’s going on in the House because of the lack of progress, the chaos that’s happening. And I’d like us to get together and work together. We’re moving in the wrong direction of getting together.”
There is a procedural manuever, known as a “discharge petition,” that Democrats can use to bring a funding bill to a floor vote without Johnson’s approval. Johnson could also try and negotiate with Democrats to tie Ukraine funding to border security or to fund Ukraine by axing other budget items valued by Democrats, like efforts to fight climate change. But either way, Johnson will be forced to deal contend with Greene.
In a statement, Johnson said he “respects Marjorie” and said that the two “have honest differences on strategy sometimes but share the same conservative beliefs.” Though the two were reportedly scheduled to speak last Friday, it’s unclear if they actually did.
