Marjorie Taylor Greene says outcome ‘up to Mike Johnson’ after threatening his removal
The Georgia Republican and speaker of the House met twice in 24 hours this week
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Tuesday the outcome of her call to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is now in his hands.
This development comes after the speaker, Ms Greene and her ally Representative Thomas Massie met for some 90 minutes on Tuesday afternoon. They previously met on Monday for over an hour.
After the second meeting, Ms Greene told reporters the ball is in Mr Johnson’s court.
“We will see,” she told reporters. “It is up to Mike Johnson.”
The GOP duo want Mr Johnson to block future Ukraine aid. They also want him to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probes into Donald Trump. Mr Smith is investigating the classified documents case and the 6 January riots. These asks are largely symbolic because the US Senate and President Joe Biden would likely block them.
Before Tuesday’s meeting, Ms Greene told The Independent the speaker has been “working with Democrats the entire time.”
“[The Democrats] are ready to deliver the votes to save his speakership, because they support him because of what he’s delivered for the Democrats and the Biden agenda,” Ms Greene told The Independent.
The bizarre feud between former allies Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Johnson, explained
Democrats say they’ll save Johnson from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ouster attempt: ‘I’ll hold my nose’
Republican lawmaker doesn’t mince his words about Marjorie Taylor Greene: ‘She is a total waste of time’
Marjorie Taylor Greene says Republicans will need to choose ‘MAGA’ or ‘MUGA’ over Mike Johnson
WATCH: GOP Representative Nancy Mace condemns Marjorie Taylor Greene’s efforts to oust Speaker Johnson
Why is Marjorie Taylor Greene calling to oust Speaker Mike Johnson?
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, vowed to trigger a vote on Speaker Mike Johnson’s removal this week.
Ms Greene’s efforts to remove the Speaker are supported by Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky. The pair have criticised Mr Johnson’s reliance on and willingness to work with Democrats on passing several bills, including the supplemental foreign aid legislation for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Read more about Ms Greene’s gripes with Mr Johnson from The Independent’s Washington, DC Bureau Chief, Eric Garcia:
Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’ll trigger no-confidence vote on Johnson next week
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Greene’s move is ‘wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country’
ICYMI: Republican lawmaker doesn’t mince his words about Marjorie Taylor Greene: ‘She is a total waste of time’
Republican Senator Thom Tillis called one of his House colleagues a “waste of time”, a bad leader, and a threat to the future of the GOP, according to a recent report.
CNN’s Erin Burnett played an audio recording of the senator trashing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene during her show on Tuesday.
“I think she’s uninformed, she is a total waste of time,” Mr Tillis says on the recording. “She is a horrible leader. She is dragging our brand down. She – not the Democrats – [is] the biggest risk to us getting back to a majority.”
Ms Greene has frustrated some members of her party by crusading against Mike Johnson, the current speaker of the House. Mr Johnson was installed after Congressman Matt Gaetz led a successful, though extremely unpopular campaign to remove Kevin McCarthy, then-speaker of the House.
Read on:
Republican lawmaker on Marjorie Taylor Greene: ‘She is a total waste of time’
‘She is a horrible leader,’ Mr Tillis said
ICYMI: Greene faces some GOP opposition to her ousting effort
Some GOP Congressmembers condemned Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s efforts to oust Speaker Mike Johnson.
Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, said Ms Greene won’t succeed.
“We need to get our act together and come together for the betterment of our country...I don’t know why she’s doing this because the votes aren’t there,” Ms Mace said of her colleague on Monday morning.
GOP Senator Thom Tillis called Ms Greene “uninformed” and “a waste of time” last month as she called to oust Mr Johnson.
Democratic leadership also said last week they would vote to save Mr Johnson.
ICYMI: Marjorie Taylor Greene threatens to trigger motion to vacate Mike Johnson
ICYMI: Democrats say they would save Republican speaker amid possible effort to oust him
House Democrats have announced that they will vote to save Speaker Mike Johnson if far-right Republicans choose to trigger a motion to vacate to remove him.
The motion is being pushed by MAGA Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, but it has struggled to garner support even among some of the Republicans who voted to oust Mr Johnson’s predecessor as speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
Mr Johnson has faced criticism from the right flank of his party after going ahead with a vote to send aid to Ukraine as part of a $95bn foreign aid package that also included funds for Israel and Taiwan.
Read more from Gustaf Kilander and Eric Garcia:
Democrats say they would save Republican speaker amid possible effort to oust him
Top Democrats said they would vote to table motion to vacate brought by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene
ANALYSIS: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s exercise in vanity has failed — spectacularly
Last Tuesday should have been the perfect day for Marjorie Taylor Greene to trigger her motion to vacate. It had been more than a week since the House had voted on the foreign aid package that provided assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. That vote allowed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to blast isolationists in the Republican party and gloat at their diminished power. MTG was poised to bite back.
Instead, Democrats threw House Speaker Mike Johnson a lifeline. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar all said they would join in a motion to table Greene’s motion, specifically citing the right-wing conspiracy theorist from Georgia as their reason for doing so.
Read more analysis from Eric Garcia, Washington, DC Bureau Chief for The Independent:
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s exercise in vanity just failed — spectacularly
Not even the people we might have expected to go with MTG seem to have the appetite to back her up this time
ICYMI: What is ‘MUGA,’ and why is Marjorie Taylor Greene using the acronym?
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene says her fellow representatives will need to choose between “MAGA” or “MUGA” as her attempt to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson moves ahead.
On Wednesday, the right-wing Georgia firebrand, accompanied by fellow right-wing Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, said she will call a privileged motion next week that would trigger an automatic vote within 48 hours over Johnson’s removal.
Ms Greene and Mr Massie criticised Mr Johnson’s reliance on Democrats to pass everything from spending bills to reauthorisation of surveillance legislation and aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. They blasted work between Mr Johnson and Mr Jeffries as a culmination of the “uniparty.””
Ms Greene then brandished a hat that said “MUGA.”
“The uniparty is ‘Make Ukraine Great Again,’” she said. “The uniparty is about funding every single foreign war. They think this is the business model that needs to be done.”
Read more:
Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’ll trigger no-confidence vote on Johnson next week
House Speaker Mike Johnson says Greene’s move is ‘wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country’
Representative Thomas Massie backs vow to vote on Mike Johnson ouster
Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, is standing beside Marjorie Taylor Greene and her call to vote on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson this week.
“This week we vote on whether Mike Johnson should remain as Speaker,” Mr Massie wrote on X. “If you’re happy with what he’s done this year and if you’re looking forward to what he will do the remainder of the year, you should join the Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries in supporting Mike Johnson.”
What is a motion to vacate?
Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to call a motion to vacate against Speaker Mike Johnson. If Ms Greene triggers a “privileged motion” on her motion to vacate, the House will be forced to vote within 48 hours on his removal.
Read more about how a motion to vacate works — and how the process was used to oust the last Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy:
What is a motion to vacate? The process Matt Gaetz triggered to oust Kevin McCarthy
House speaker challenged to no-confidence vote by the rebel congressman representing hard-right fringe of Republican party
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments