Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to remove Johnson as speaker

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to boot Speaker Mike Johnson from his chair on Friday, shortly after the House passed a $1.2 trillion spending deal to avoid a government shutdown that drew widespread opposition from conservatives.

But it was immediately unclear how many other members supported the Georgia congresswoman’s move, or when it might lead to a no-confidence vote.

Greene did not file her motion to vacate as “privileged,” which would have forced a vote within two legislative days, effectively guaranteeing a referendum on Johnson’s leadership after the House’s upcoming two-week recess. Instead, she submitted it as an ordinary motion, which will be sent to a committee for review.

“I filed the motion to vacate today, but it’s more of a warning than a pink slip,” Greene said while speaking to reporters on the steps of the Capitol. She emphasized that she did plan to trigger a vote eventually, but had no specific timeline — only that “the clock has started” for Republicans to begin “the process to elect a new speaker.”

“It doesn’t have to be forced and throw the house into chaos. I don’t want to put any of our members in a difficult place like we were for three and a half weeks,” she added, referring to the month-long leadership battle that ensued after a small group of Republicans toppled former speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Greene accused Johnson of violating procedural rules that House Republicans had agreed to and of failing to win concessions on the border and abortion from Democrats during the spending negotiations. The government funding deal passed earlier on Friday with support from less than half the Republican conference.

“You know when another video that everyone is watching today? It’s the illegals rushing our border military-aged men running over Border Patrol running over the Texas National Guard,” Greene said. “And Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, handed over every ounce of negotiating power to Chuck Schumer and the Democrats and went ahead and funded the government. When this was our point of leverage.”

A spokesman for Johnson said that the speaker “always listens to the concerns of members, but is focused on governing.” Johnson did not address the motion directly in a later statement to reporters, but defended the spending deal.

“During the FY24 appropriations process, House Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense,” Johnson said. “The process was also an important step in breaking the omnibus muscle memory and represents the best achievable outcome in a divided government.”

Johnson has found himself in an increasingly precarious position with hardline Republicans in the House, who’ve complained bitterly about the lack of policy wins in this year’s spending agreement and staged a series of mini-rebellions by tanking routine rule votes. Johnson has been forced in turn to rely on Democratic votes to pass legislation.

Greene, who backed Johnson when he ran to replace McCarthy, has become one of the speaker’s most vocal critics. In January, she publicly warned that she would file a motion to vacate his seat if he passed new aid to Ukraine.

But many Republican members have found themselves exhausted and demoralized by the constant infighting that has rocked their conference over the past year, which has helped fuel a spate of retirements by members known for their governing chops.

That exodus continued to speed up as Greene made her move on Friday, as retiring Rep. Mike Gallagher, who heads the House’s China committee, announced he would leave his seat April, further narrowing GOP’s razor-thin majority. Rep. Kay Granger said she would also step down early as head of the Appropriations Committee, well ahead of her own departure from Congress next year.

Several GOP members lashed out angrily at Greene for continuing the cycle of dysfunction on Friday.

Rep. Mike Lawler, who faces a tough re-election campaign in New York, called her motion an “idiotic stunt.” Rep. Carlos Giménez said hardliner Republicans were unlikely to win more conservative victories by toppling a second speaker, given the party’s tiny governing margin. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” the Californian said. “They’re not going to get a different result.”

Some members of GOP leadership also dismissed Greene’s gesture, though in more muted fashion. “I don’t know what this accomplishes,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, the conference secretary.

Vice Conference Chair Blake Moore told Semafor that he simply didn’t “have any reaction to it.”

Still, some appeared to at least leave the door open to supporting Greene. Rep. Thomas Massie told Semafor he felt “this speaker failed miserably today,” and didn’t comment directly on whether he’d vote in favor of Greene’s motion. “I don’t think it’s trying to get leverage. I think it’s a pink slip,” he said. Rep. Ralph Norman, another high profile hardliner, told Politico “we’ll see” when asked about potentially supporting the motion.

While speaking with reporters, Greene said she had “support on this from others in my conference,” but declined to name names.

Even if Greene can win over some of her GOP colleagues, the speaker could potentially find support among Democrats, some of whom are already signaling that they would help the speaker keep his job if necessary.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz posted to X that he “will never stand by and let MTG to take over the people’s House. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate who just won a special election in Long Island, told CNN he would support Johnson because “it’s absurd that he’s being kicked out for doing the right thing and keeping the government open.”

Others said he would need to demonstrate more willingness to cooperate with Democrats first, for instance by bringing Ukraine aid to the floor for a vote. “The ball is in his court,” New Democrat Coalition Chair Annie Kuster told Axios. “If he is a fair actor with us, we’ve got no reason to get rid of him.”

Joseph Zeballos-Roig contributed reporting