Hardline Republican US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tried and failed in a brazen push to oust US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, but the resounding rejection by Republicans and Democrats tired of the turmoil does not guarantee an end to the Republican chaos.
One of former US president Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in the US Congress, Greene stood on the House floor late on Wednesday and read a long list of “transgressions” she said Johnson had committed as speaker, from his passage of a US$95 billion national security package with aid for Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel to his reliance on Democrats to wield power.
Colleagues booed in protest. However, Greene soldiered on, criticizing Johnson’s leadership as “pathetic, weak and unacceptable.”
Photo: Bloomberg
After Greene triggered the vote on her motion to vacate the Republican speaker from his office, Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise quickly countered by calling first for a vote to table it.
An overwhelming majority, 359-43, kept Johnson in his job, for now.
“As I’ve said from the beginning, and I’ve made clear here every day, I intend to do my job,” Johnson said afterward. “And I’ll let the chips fall where they may. In my view, that is leadership.”
It is the second time in a matter of months that Republicans have worked to oust their own speaker, an unheard of level of party upheaval with a move rarely seen in US history.
While the outcome temporarily calms the latest source of US House of Representatives disruption, the vote tally shows the strengths but also the stark limits of Johnson’s hold on the gavel, and the risks ahead for any Republican trying to lead the party.
Without Democratic help, Johnson would have certainly faced a more dismal outcome. All told, 11 Republicans voted to proceed with Greene’s effort, more than it took to oust then-US House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy last year, a first in the nation’s history.
However, by relying on Democratic backing, Johnson risks inciting more criticism that he is insufficiently loyal to the party.
Even though Trump provided a needed nod of support for Johnson at crucial moments, it is not bankable going forward. The former president posed an idle warning about potentially ousting the speaker as voting was getting underway.
“At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time,” Trump said on social media.
Trump also made clear he still valued Greene, perhaps his biggest ally in the House, even as he rejected her proposal.
“I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene,” he said as he urged Republicans to table her motion.
Greene had vowed weeks ago she would force a vote on the motion to vacate Johnson if he dared to advance the foreign aid package, which was overwhelmingly approved late last month and signed into law.
Johnson said he had been willing to take the risk to approve the foreign aid, believing it was important for the US to back Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and explaining he wanted to be on the “right side of history.”
Highly unusual, the boost from Democrats led by US Representative Hakeem Jeffries, showed the exhaustion in the US Congress over the far-right antics.
“Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from plunging the country into further chaos is rooted in our commitment to solve problems,” Jeffries said after the vote.
However, Democrats have also made clear their help was for this moment alone, and not a promise of an enduring partnership for Johnson’s survival.
The move poses its own political risks for Greene, a high-profile provocateur who has moved to the forefront of the party with her own massive following and proximity to Trump.
Greene put her colleagues in the politically uncomfortable position of backing the speaker and seen as joining forces with Democrats to save him.
“I’m proud of what I did today,” Greene said afterward on the US Capitol steps.
Republican US Representative Dusty Johnson said of those trying to remove the speaker: “They’re pretty good at getting attention, but they have not been recognized for their ability to get things done.”
He said if they keep pushing to oust the speaker, “I think you can expect more of the same: failure.”
Republican US Representative Carlos Gimenez said: “She [Greene] doesn’t represent the Republican Party. I’m tired of of this being the face or the voice of the party and getting attention. That’s all she wants, is the attention.”
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