Republicans dismissive of Greene’s plan to oust House speaker

Greene’s move has also frustrated top advisers to former president Donald Trump, and one person said Trump has repeatedly described the Republican infighting as “embarrassing.”

“He wishes it would just go away,” this person said.

His advisers believe the situation puts Trump in the difficult bind of choosing between allies he likes and is furthermore unnecessary in the middle of an election year where they want to be talking about immigration, inflation, campus protests and other issues they view as more favorable.

“We are trying to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory by making the story Republican infighting,” said the person who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Trump’s thinking.

Trump has endorsed Johnson’s handling of the speakership, but it’s unclear if the presumptive GOP presidential nominee will proactively intervene to halt Greene from introducing her “motion to vacate” because she has been a consistently loyal ally. A fired-up Greene claimed Wednesday morning she was bringing her motion to help Trump, arguing that Johnson has fully funded the Justice Department that she charges wants to put Trump in jail “for life.”

“I fight for [Trump’s agenda] every day, and that’s why I’m fighting my colleagues now,” Greene said. “We have to do this. We have to win in November. We have to keep the majority.”

Trump spent multiple hours with Johnson last month at Mar-a-Lago, where they discussed candidate endorsements and party politics. Trump’s new head of the Republican National Committee, Michael Whatley, told Republicans on Tuesday that Trump wants to see the GOP conference remain united.

Trump’s involvement may not be necessary as a majority of Republicans plan to vote with a sizable amount of Democrats to prevent Johnson’s ouster and avoid plunging the House into uncertainty.

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), who chairs the largest factions of conservatives in the Republican Study Committee, said Trump wants Republicans to focus on bigger issues and not get sidetracked with feuding. “Let’s get focused on winning in November, keeping the House, taking the Senate and having the White House in January and really run hard to get a lot of great things done for Americans,” he said.

Greene intends to act sometime next week and as of Wednesday afternoon, there were only two other Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.) — who publicly backed her motion. The House would have two legislative days to consider the motion, but would first consider a move to reject it that Democrats are expected to support.

Forcing the House to consider ousting Johnson marks the second time Republicans have acted to remove their speaker over the past six months. Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) led the charge to get rid of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), who became the first speaker in history to be removed from the post after seven other Republicans and all Democrats supported his ouster. As a result, the House stopped functioning for almost a month as the Republican majority devolved into chaos, repeatedly failing to elect a speaker until GOP members unanimously elected the ultraconservative, and little-known, Johnson.

“Mike Johnson is not capable of that job. He has proven it over and over again,” Greene said Wednesday morning, adding that she wants to see lawmakers vote on the record.

Greene’s chances of success, however, are in doubt because House Democratic leadership has pledged to rescue Johnson by attempting to kill the measure before it can gain any traction. Nonetheless, Republicans will hold a one-vote House majority by next week, and anything could happen in the volatile chamber where support from GOP hard-liners is always in question.

Several people familiar with House GOP leadership’s thinking say it’s possible that Johnson would call up the vote for immediate consideration after Greene formally triggers it. A vote to “table” or effectively kill the measure would come first, which is the motion Democrats have pledged to support. If that isn’t successful, only then would a final vote occur to oust Johnson — and Democrats have said they won’t intervene to save the speaker in that case.

“Marjorie Taylor Greene is the star of the show. The show is called ‘Republicans Gone Wild,’” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said. “House Republicans are either unwilling or unable to get [Greene] and the extreme MAGA Republicans under control, and so, it’s going to take a bipartisan coalition and partnership to accomplish that objective.”

Several Republicans said some hard-liners might oppose the move to “table” Greene’s motion because they know Johnson won’t ultimately be ousted.

“I think that’s a possibility,” Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-Va.) said.

It’s unclear, however, how Republicans would actually vote if the vacate motion came to the floor. If all lawmakers are present and participating in a final vote to oust Johnson, Greene, Massie and Gosar’s support would be enough to remove the speaker from the office because House Republicans’ razor-thin voting margin will temporarily go down to one once Democrat Tim Kennedy is sworn in to fill an open seat in New York.

After months of threats, Greene and Massie held an early-morning news conference in which they finally tipped their hands. Greene indicated that she wanted to give Republicans the weekend to reflect on how they will vote, and she suggested Johnson should “pray on it” and resign rather than embrace the endorsement of Jeffries and House Democrats.

“Everybody needs a weekend to prepare. I’m not irresponsible. I care about my conference. I have been measured. I have given this time. I have been giving warning after warning,” Greene said. “It was a warning to stop serving the Democrats and support our Republican conference and support our agenda. And [Johnson] didn’t do it.”

Johnson responded quickly: “This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution and wrong for the country.”

Greene devoted a majority of her 30-minute news conference to discussing Johnson’s reliance on House Democrats to pass votes the far-right vehemently disagreed with, even though their quest for ideological purity on must-pass legislation helped drive Johnson into Democratic arms.

“Now we have Hakeem Jeffries coming out over and over again, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big wet sloppy kiss. … They want to keep the band together,” she said. “They’re sharing the gavel. They’re holding it together.”

Before Greene’s announcement, Johnson had some choice words for her. Often referencing her as “a friend,” Johnson said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill” program that he no longer considers her a serious lawmaker.

“Bless her heart,” Johnson said, deploying a subtle insult often used in the South. “I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about her. I’ve got to do my job, and we do the right thing and we let the chips fall where they may.”

In response, Massie said that Greene is “the most serious representative up here.”

“If you listen to the speech that she just gave, she captured exactly what Republicans back home are thinking. They are tired of this swamp,” he said.

Greene and Massie charge Johnson with committing three sins during his six months helming the House: relying on Democrats to fund the government in late March, pushing past far-right concerns over a government surveillance reauthorization bill, and sending $61 billion to aid Ukraine as part of a $95 billion foreign aid package.

Greene did not name anyone she thought could cobble enough votes together to win the speakership if her effort is successful. That has been a major concern among Republicans who recognize that their inability to agree on much of anything could jeopardize their ability to elect a conservative as speaker again.

“I’m not naming names, but I think we have people that are capable. Anybody that’s willing to fight for our agenda — anyone that refuses to share the power with Hakeem Jeffries,” she said.

Massie addressed the alleged “futility” of trying to oust Johnson when the large majority of the House appears ready to save the speaker, urging Republicans to ask Johnson to resign in discussions with him before the vote occurs.

“What we’ve seen here is the coming out of the uniparty … and it will be apparent next week,” Massie said, referring to Johnson and Democrats working together to save the speaker. “We cannot coast this one out.”

One Republican said, despite Greene’s charge that voters are outraged by the way the House does business, that no one outside of Washington cares about the intraparty infighting.

“We’ve got an election coming up. You go anywhere in America and you talk to a person on the street, they’re not going to say who the next speaker is is the most pressing issue that they have,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the Freedom Caucus who will not vote in support of ousting Johnson.

Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.