See what Greene said after filing motion on March 22 to remove Speaker Johnson
But given the ever shrinking House Republican majority,
Greene’s unpredictable nature and the shocking fashion in which former
speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted, Johnson also can’t leave anything to
chance. People who have spoken to the speaker in recent days say he is
keenly aware that the motion to vacate is looming large as he makes key
decisions about Ukraine aid, which could determine the trajectory of his
political career – whether it’s in the immediate term or more long
term. Over the two-week Easter recess, Johnson has been quietly working
with key lieutenants to chart a course on his Ukraine strategy.
“He has to shore up (support) after that budget debacle,”
one GOP lawmaker who was disappointed by the spending package, told CNN.
“It was a terrible deal.”
Democrats are signaling that they will save Johnson if he
moves a Ukraine bill they can support. But if he moves a bill that is
narrower than their demands, or includes new border restrictions, he
risks putting off both Democrats and right-wing Republicans who are
opposed to a dollar more for Ukraine. Plus, adding spending cuts to
offset the Ukraine package — as Gaetz and other hardliners want— would
prompt stiff Democratic opposition.
“My counsel to Mike is, start with the American people here
at home and work from there. Don’t start from Ukraine and work that
way,” said GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who added he has been in
“constant communication” with the speaker and his team.
Roy, one of the loudest critics of the bipartisan spending
law, would not say if he would back Greene’s effort to oust Johnson.
“Right now, we got to go back and get Republicans united to
point out what our radical progressive Democrat colleagues are doing and
present an actual competing vision,” he said.
Meanwhile, Greene is doing some strategizing of her own. She
is working with a small group of allies to gauge where members stand,
according to a lawmaker familiar with the conversations.
“People are talking about it,” the lawmaker said.
The day Greene filed her motion against Johnson, GOP Rep.
Thomas Massie of Kentucky told CNN that Greene is in no rush to act.
“Presumably now we can start finding a replacement and still
do investigations and still go on about our business,” Massie told CNN
last week.
But he would not say if he supports ousting Johnson: “There’s no benefit to me answering that question.”
While Greene has been publicly criticizing the speaker on
social media over the last several days, sources say she is keeping her
actual plan close to the chest and only confiding in a few key allies.
As Greene and her allies slowly start to approach their
colleagues, key members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, including
ones who were supportive of McCarthy’s removal, are not signaling the
same appetite for ousting Johnson.
GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, who chairs the right wing
group and was one of eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, told
CNN, “Nobody cares what Marjorie Taylor Greene says or thinks. And she’s
a one-man show. She’s grandstanding and she wants attention.”has a
frosty relationship with Greene, who is backing his primary opponent.
“Nobody cares what Marjorie Taylor Greene says or thinks,”
Good told CNN. “And she’s a one-man show. She’s grandstanding and she
wants attention.”
Good wouldn’t say if he would back voting to oust Johnson,
though he said: “I can’t defend the actions that have been taken that
are material in doing the same thing that the former speaker did.”
Asked if Johnson should be voted out, Good said: “I don’t
have a comment on that. You know, and I think that is a comment in and
of itself.”
Other hardliners are opposed to kicking out Johnson.
“I do not think now is the time to put America through
another battle to select a new person as speaker of the House,” said GOP
Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina. “Therefore I will not be
supporting the (motion to vacate the speaker) if and when it comes to
the House floor for a vote.”
But while many Republicans are sticking behind Johnson for
now, they warned that his handling of Ukraine aid when the House returns
in April could be critical to determining where their ultimate support
lies.
GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia said he didn’t believe
Greene’s threat against Johnson’s job was serious but warned: “I think
we need to be focused on securing our border, before we focus on
securing … some other country’s border.”
Some are concerned that the chaos caused by another speaker
fight could result in a coalition with Democrats that leads to House
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries becoming speaker, given the narrow
margins in the House and the growing frustrations among Republicans. A
number of GOP lawmakers made that point to Greene directly on the House
floor as they tried to dissuade her from moving forward with her
resolution to oust Johnson, sources told CNN.
“The last time I pulled the trigger on a motion to vacate, I
could make a true promise to the country that we would not end up with a
Democrat speaker of the House, and I fulfilled that promise,” Gaetz
said in the interview. “And I’m not certain that I could do it again,
with a one-vote majority as opposed to a four-vote majority.”
But Greene is pressing ahead both on social media and behind
the scenes to keep up the pressure. She told CNN soon after she
announced her plans that there are “quite a few” lawmakers supporting
her effort but would not specify exactly how many or who is backing her.
“I have a number that have committed, but there’s also a
large number that have already expressed to me a huge sigh of relief,”
she added.
Meanwhile, Greene has been relentlessly targeting Johnson in
a firestorm of social media posts and not being shy about her
intentions.
“My motion to vacate is a force for change and Republicans
better take it seriously and spend the necessary time planning and
coming together for new leadership,” she posted on Thursday.
Haley Talbot and Sheden Tesfaldet contributed to this report.
