MTG Fights Lone Battle to Oust Johnson

(RightWing.org) – Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wants House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) removed after he worked to push through billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. However, Greene isn’t finding much backing for her campaign to kick him out. Even former president Donald Trump isn’t with her on this one.

In late March, after Johnson navigated the latest government funding bill through the House, Greene filed a motion to vacate the speakership. She used the same mechanism that unseated Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the top House job last October — but, despite Johnson’s wafer-thin majority, she isn’t getting the backup she would need to remove him. In fact, even her fellow ultra-conservatives are urging her to back down on this.

Other Republican lawmakers are pointing out that Greene is now in an awkward position. She doesn’t have the support to actually push the speaker out, but if she backs down her credibility will take a beating. Representative Max Miller (R-OH) compared her to “the boy who cried wolf,” while John Duarte (R-CA) said her coup attempt has “utterly collapsed” and “She’s not influencing anything.”

Greene’s problem is that while a small group of Republicans voting with Democrats was enough to remove McCarthy, there’s little appetite for another drawn-out round of elections to choose yet another speaker. Greene might be realizing that herself. On May 7 she had a meeting with Johnson to press her demands, which included ending support to Ukraine, defunding special counsels, and forcing 1% spending cuts for every federal agency.

However, when she came out Johnson hadn’t yielded — and Greene was reluctant to discuss pushing on with her motion to vacate. Now Trump, who Greene is an enthusiastic supporter of, has publicly endorsed the speaker; rumors say he’s also warned Greene to back down. It looks like Johnson’s job is safe, for now.

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