US Republicans want to oust House speaker
A number of Republicans in the US House of Representatives are reportedly looking to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. They accuse him of betraying his party by striking deals with the Democrats to pass major bills, including President Joe Biden’s $95 billion foreign military spending legislation that included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Wednesday that she would force a vote to vacate the Majority speaker’s position, arguing that “Mike Johnson is not capable of that job. He has proven it over and over again.”
“I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may and so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate,” she said.
Taylor Greene had previously threatened to take action against Johnson when GOP lawmakers demanded the White House address the southern border crisis as a condition for their backing of Biden’s foreign aid bill.
Greene’s proposal has not gained the required majority support among fellow House Republicans, however. There were only two other Republicans, Reps Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul A Gosar of Arizona, who publicly backed her motion. Some lawmakers oppose it in the belief that “it’s not the time,” given the upcoming presidential election.
Democrats, meanwhile, have also dismissed Greene’s attempt to oust the Republican speaker and have vowed to band together to protect Johnson by voting to kill the motion to vacate his position.
“House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against MAGA extremism. We will continue to do just that. 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,” reads a statement issued by the legislators.
“We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,” they said.
Johnson himself has also spoken out against attempts to have him removed, stating that “this motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country.”
Greene, however, has pointed to Johnson’s Democratic support as yet another reason for him to be removed.
“Now we have […] the Democrats coming out, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet, sloppy kiss. And they are ready — they have endorsed him, they are ready to support him as speaker,” Greene stated, adding that “they want to keep it going, keep the band together. Why? Because Mike Johnson is giving them everything they want.”
The congresswoman has not yet announced when exactly she will call the vote and whether she would force repeat votes on the issue if it fails next week.
