Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is up to her old antics and getting a lot of attention for threatening to once again hurl the House into chaos by demanding a vote to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who recently reached across the aisle to pass major aid bills for Israel and Ukraine. For Greene, posturing and getting attention is much more important than well, actually getting things done. She will almost certainly fail, but boy, did she get some attention.
Greene held a morning press conference at the Capitol flanked by two posters of Johnson interacting and embracing House minority leader Rep. Hakeem S. Jeffries, and on a podium that had Johnson’s name above the slogan: “The Uniparty Speaker.”
The “Uniparty” label means that there’s only one party, one that includes Dems, conservatives, and the media — suggesting that Johnson, who’s worked with Democrats, is consequently not a “real” Republican. …What? Maybe if Greene could get her head out of her proverbial butt, she would see that most Americans don’t want their representatives squabbling like children. Or maybe she can see this, and just doesn’t care. Why is bipartisanship a bad word? That’s how the government is supposed to work. You know what you have when you only have one point of view? A dictatorship.
This Uniparty label, by the way, is not new. It was used way back in 2000 with supporters of Ralph Nader, a candidate for the Green Party. Steve Bannon, when he was still Trump’s adviser, also bemoaned the Uniparty and said the MAGA movement needed to end it.
“I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may,” Greene said. “And so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate.” Greene and other far right politicians favor a more isolationist foreign policy, one whereby America stays out of other nations’ business. The fact that they didn’t get their way infuriates them.
Democrats have already said they would block the motion before it could be considered, something that could potentially alienate Johnson further. House members are allowed to force a vote on ousting the speaker due to new rules put in place by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which ironically is what was used to remove him. The House was plunged into chaos until eventually Johnson cobbled together enough votes to win the position.
Does Greene ever offer solutions? Why, that would mean she was actually doing her job. Instead, she’s too busy trying to tear things down. Who would be the new speaker? Of course, she has no idea. Shocking.
Johnson responded as any level-headed human would respond – by shrugging it off and trying to be sensible about it at the same time. “This motion is wrong for the Republican conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country,” he said.
He vowed to continue doing his job and not allow Greene to influence his decision making as House Speaker. “I don’t spend a lot of time concerning myself with it, and I think it’s a distraction,” Mr. Johnson told The New York Times. “We have a job to do here. And I think that the vast majority of my colleagues understand that as well. And I don’t think that a dispute over policy issues or questions should result in the speaker being removed.”
Greene does not have a lot of support for her measure, but the press conference was covered by every news outlet regardless. A measly two Representatives support her: Rep. Paul Gosar from Arizona, and Rep. Thomas Massie from Kentucky.
With those three votes and, ahem, support from Democrats, Greene could theoretically oust Johnson. Do we see what’s happening here? She needs support from Democrats to oust Johnson, and she wants to oust Johnson because he had support from Democrats. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.
Regardless, Johnson and his party allies will not support the measure, and neither will Republicans. Besides not knowing who would replace Johnson, Greene also wouldn’t reveal who would actually support the measure. In effect, she’s wasting everyone’s time.
House Democratic leaders made sure to make that clear following Greene’s presser. “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.