WASHINGTON — Two Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, angered by Speaker Mike Johnson’s bipartisan stance amid a divided government, said Wednesday they would force a vote next week to remove him from the leadership post – despite the extremely slim chances of success.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie held a press conference just steps from the Capitol, urging lawmakers and Johnson to utilize the weekend to consider how they plan to vote on the so-called eviction motion.
She also criticized Democrats for their plans to support Johnson as House speaker, suggesting that this could be problematic for them when voters decide on the lawmaker’s re-election in November.
“I can’t wait for the Democrats to endorse a Republican speaker. And then they have to go home for their primaries and have to run for Congress again after endorsing a Republican speaker, a Christian conservative,” Greene said. “I think that will go over well. I’m looking forward to it.”
“I also can’t wait for my Republican Conference to put its cards on the table and show who we are, because the voters deserve it,” she added. “Has the Republican Party finally learned its lesson, have they finally heard the message from voters at home?”
Congress, which is divided between the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Democratic majority in the Senate, passed too many bipartisan bills during Johnson’s six months in office, Greene said.
These include the government funding packages approved in March; a renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; and the military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan approved in April.
Massie also opposed the bipartisan bill, pointing to two signs that staffers put up at the press conference showing Johnson and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York holding the gavel and embracing.
The two politicians, Massie said, should be “arch rivals” and not work together to get bipartisan legislation through Congress.
“It’s about who holds the gavel,” Massie said. “Right now, they both hold the gavel. They share power over procedures, over which bills come to a vote, over how long we debate those bills, and over which committees are made up of which members.”
Johnson: “This proposal is wrong”
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, released a written statement after the news conference saying the eviction request was not the right path forward.
“This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country,” Johnson wrote.
Leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives published a statement She said Tuesday that the party would support Johnson in a vote on the floor, which would likely derail efforts to oust him from the speaker’s office given the narrow Republican majority.
Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar also supports Johnson’s removal from the leadership post, but according to Greene, he was unable to attend the press conference on Wednesday due to a scheduling conflict.
Many other far-right members of the Republican Party, including Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good of Virginia, believe the best time for internal debates over House leadership is after the November election.
Greene said during Wednesday’s press conference that the vote will give all Americans a chance to see which lawmakers support Johnson’s continued service as speaker and which want to remove him from office.
“That vote will take place next week, and I want to urge all of our colleagues to prepare for it,” Greene said. “It’s the right thing for America. It’s time to clean up the mess, get our conference in order, and prepare to support President Trump’s agenda, God willing, that he wins in November.”
Trump has publicly expressed his support for Johnson to remain as speaker over the past month. At a joint appearance at Mar-a-Lago, he said Johnson was doing a “very good job” and after the foreign aid vote, he said he was “a very good person.”
