Christian Smith
Senate conservatives are calling on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to back down on her attempt to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), saying it is a waste of time and that Congress has priorities highest levels before the November elections.
Greene introduced her motion to vacate office a month ago to protest the House speaker’s handling of aid to Ukraine, government spending and the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and Republicans fear the moment when that it forces a vote on the resolution. The Georgia Republican announced Wednesday that she would move the issue next week to bring it to the floor.
Only two House Republicans have publicly supported her effort, and she no longer finds support among the ranks of Senate conservatives, many of whom believe Johnson is the right person to run the conference and that a leadership change today would be political malpractice. .
“It’s a horrible idea,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told The Hill. “Moses couldn’t do a better job than Mike Johnson is doing right now.”
“I think he’s doing the best he can [job] in the situation with a slim majority where Democrats control the Senate and the White House,” he continued. “There is no more conservative person out there who could be elected speaker of the House than Mike Johnson.”
Johnson has largely rejected Greene’s effort to remove him from the presidency using the same mechanism that a different group of conservatives used to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October.
He recently said in an interview that he doesn’t consider Greene a serious legislator.
“We do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may,” Johnson told NewsNation, which is owned by the same parent company as The Hill.
Greene’s effort is widely expected to fail. Johnson’s Conservative critics in the House have previously indicated they have little appetite for a repeat of the three weeks of chaos that followed McCarthy’s ouster.
And the Democratic leadership, along with rank-and-file party members, pledged to help save Johnson’s gavel after he put aid to Ukraine on the floor, where it was easily approved.
Still, leading conservatives in the Senate want the effort to go by the wayside.
“I think it’s completely ridiculous and counterproductive,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who is running for governor of Indiana this year, noted that the effort could hurt the Republican agenda for the rest of the year and said conservatives don’t support it because there is no real option to alternative. .
It took three weeks and several failed bids for the House Republican Party conference to elect Johnson.
“Who raised their hand and would like to be [Speaker]?” Braun asked.
Greene’s effort was also thwarted by former President Trump’s support for Johnson in recent weeks.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also threw his full support behind the embattled House speaker earlier this week.
“I’m relieved, because I think all of America is aware that the chaos in the House will be stopped,” McConnell told reporters on Wednesday. “I think it’s a benefit to our country, a benefit to the House, a benefit to the reputation of Congress.”
While Johnson’s recent series of bipartisan agreements to keep the government open and move forward with aid to Ukraine has angered many conservatives, many of them had hoped to avoid a motion to override the floor vote, despite Greene’s insistence on putting members on the floor. record.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus, said recently that the ability to remove a President “exists for reasons, but they should be used sparingly” – a sentiment shared by some of his right-wing colleagues in the Senate ahead of the November elections.
Most members would prefer to focus on putting Trump back in the White House and gaining control of Congress rather than what they see as a one-sided, petty fight.
“I think we will be in a better position in the fall if we remain united as Republicans,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), herself a former member of the House Freedom Caucus.
“Don’t do that, don’t do that. That would be my suggestion,” she added.
Even those most unhappy with Johnson in the Senate GOP ranks won’t go so far as to bet on Greene this time. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said several times in a brief interview that Johnson “has done a terrible job” since taking office, but declined to say whether he supports the Georgia Republican’s actions.
“They have to decide that. It’s not for me to say that,” Paul said.
