Marjorie Taylor Greene Files to Vacate House Speaker Johnson

Facts

• US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion to remove House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) from his position as House Speaker. She said this was a 'warning' but that she wouldn't immediately bring the motion to a floor vote.¹
• Her decision was in response to the House passing a $1.2T bill to fund large chunks of the government for the next year, which Greene called a 'betrayal of the American people' and blamed Johnson for getting outplayed by Democrats.²
• Her motion was not filed as privileged, which would have triggered an automatic vote in two days. Instead, she filed a regular motion which will go to a committee for consideration, which could last a while.³
• After the procedural committee vote, which is reportedly likely to fail, the vote would then go to the House, for which Johnson would only be able to lose the support of two Republicans if all Democrats voted against him.⁴
• Other House Republicans said Greene would use the upcoming two-week recess to decide when to bring the motion. Many in the party are said to be trying to convince her to rethink, arguing that a vote could lead to Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) ending up taking over.⁵
• While there are Republicans who voted against the spending bill and criticized Johnson for pushing it through, they haven't said whether they'd vote to remove him. Some Democrats, however, have said they would vote to keep him rather than vote him out.⁶

Sources: ¹The Hill (a), ²New York Daily News, ³NBC, ⁴FOX News, ⁵CNN and ⁶The Hill (b).

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by PJ Media. While many on the right have correctly criticized the $1.2T funding bill, removing voting to vacate Mike Johnson is not the solution. With a razor-thin majority in the House, the GOP needed to pass something to ensure the government was funded and the party didn't fall apart. After seeing the chaos that followed Rep. Matt Gaetz's motion to remove Kevin McCarthy, the party cannot afford more turmoil ahead of an already uphill battle in the 2024 election.
• Conservative narrative, as provided by Townhall. Mike Johnson has already abandoned his constituents to work alongside the Democrats, so what's the point in worrying about how this motion could impact future House leadership? The $1.2T bill, which Americans on both sides were against, proves Johnson doesn't care about representing the will of the people. Removing a problematic politician from power isn't what's hurting the country — his being in power is.

Predictions