Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Wednesday that she would move to force a vote next week on removing her fellow Republican Mike Johnson as House speaker, even though the measure appears certain to fail.
“I think the American people need to see a recorded vote,” Greene said at a press conference. “And so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate – absolutely calling it. I can’t wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican speaker and have to go home to their primaries and have to run for Congress again.”
The news came one day after House Democratic leaders issued a statement indicating they would vote to table, or kill, Greene’s motion to vacate if it came up for a vote. In the statement, Democratic leaders cited Johnson’s successful effort to shepherd a foreign aid package through the House last month to justify blocking Greene’s motion.
“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” the leaders said. “We will vote to table Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate the chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”
With Democrats opposing the effort, Greene does not have the votes to advance her motion. Only two other House Republicans – Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona – have said they would back the motion, leaving Greene hundreds of votes short of a majority.
Johnson, who assumed the speakership just six months ago, brushed off Greene’s threat, as he has done before.
“This motion is wrong for the Republican conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country,” he said in a statement.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Johnson insisted that House Republicans must remain focused on their legislative agenda instead of personal rivalries.
“I have to do my job. We have to do what we believe to be the right thing,” Johnson said. “We need people who are serious about the job here to continue to do that job and get it done. So I have to do what I believe is right every day and let the chips fall where they may.”
Greene first introduced her motion to vacate in late March, following the passage of a government funding package that was supported by Johnson and most Democrats. Greene accused Johnson of working with Democrats to the detriment of Republicans’ priorities, and that criticism intensified following the passage of the foreign aid package. That proposal included a bill that would send roughly $61bn to Ukraine, at a time when many Republicans have grown increasingly skeptical of sending more money to Kyiv.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Greene attacked Johnson for flip-flopping on a number of crucial policy issues, including Ukraine funding, after becoming speaker. At one point, she displayed a hat bearing the letters “Muga”, standing for “Make Ukraine Great Again”, and she placed it on top of a photo of Johnson.
“What are we giving Republican voters to vote for?” Greene asked. “Once [Johnson] became speaker, he has become a man that none of us recognize.”
Although Greene’s campaign has no chance of success, her move to force a vote on a motion to vacate will mark the second time in less than a year that the House has considered removing its speaker. In October, Republican Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker, becoming the first leader to ever be formally removed from the role, and his departure set off chaos in the House. With House Republicans unable to choose a new leader, the chamber came to a standstill for three weeks until Johnson’s election.
Most House Republicans do not appear eager to repeat that spectacle, which attracted nationwide mockery and criticism.
“We saw what happened with the motion to vacate the last time,” Johnson said on Tuesday. “Congress was closed for three weeks. No one can afford for that to happen.”
