The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In full attack mode, Greene plans to meet with speaker
Georgia Republican has filed motion to remove Johnson.
The soap opera continues for House Republicans, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, is again right in the middle.
Two weeks after Greene surprised her colleagues by filing a motion to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., she is expected to talk to the speaker today, after days of increasingly sharp attacks on her party’s leader.
“Mike Johnson has made a complete departure of who he is and what he stands for,” Greene told conservative talk host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, “to the point where people are literally asking, ‘Is he blackmailed? What is wrong with him?’ Because he’s completely disconnected with what we want.”
For most lawmakers in Congress, the twoweek break for Easter has been a quiet time. But Greene has been sounding a drumbeat of outrage with conservative media outlets, focused mainly on efforts by Johnson to hold a House vote this month on extra military aid for Ukraine.
“He is a damn fool,” Greene told Steve Bannon, a former aide to President Donald Trump.
While Greene has been on the attack, Johnson has tried to downplay their differences.
“We don’t need any dissension right now,” he said in a Fox News interview.
It wasn’t that long ago — Oct. 25, 2023 — when Greene and Johnson were all smiles on the House floor, taking a selfie together after Johnson had been tapped to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Less than six months later, Greene is on a very public crusade against Johnson, making it very clear what she wants.
“We need a new speaker of the House,” she said Tuesday.
So far, few Republicans have aligned with Greene, choosing to avoid a repeat of the McCarthy ouster. But the fact that Greene has been hammering Johnson day after day — creating a buzz in conservative media circles — is not seen on Capitol Hill as a good sign for the speaker’s future.
When the House returns to work next week, Greene could call up her resolution at any time to force a vote on Johnson, which no one in either party believes will be approved.
“This is not going to happen,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., who has said he would cross party lines and vote to keep Johnson in power, rejecting any move by Greene to boot out her own party’s speaker. “She can’t pass anything in the House.”
But Greene isn’t giving up. “There is zero daylight between what (former Democratic speaker) Nancy Pelosi did last Congress and what Mike Johnson is doing now,” Greene said.