Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Wednesday that she will call for a vote to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson next week.
Greene initially filed a motion to vacate in late March over disagreements with Johnson’s latest appropriations plan. The Georgia Republican detailed her plan to advance her efforts to remove Johnson during a press conference following the House’s passage of Ukraine aid.
“I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may. And so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate,” Greene said. “We are not going to have a House majority if we keep Mike Johnson.”
Politico reported Wednesday that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley had attempted to dissuade Greene from going through with the vote.
“He said, one, this is not helpful, and two, we want to expand and grow the majority in the House,” said a person familiar with Whatley’s message to Greene, per Politico. “He was clear that any disruption to the conference on these efforts, including filing this [motion to vacate], does not help the case for party unity.”
House Democratic leadership announced on Tuesday they’d help save Johnson if Greene moved forward with her motion to vacate after he helped advance the national security supplemental.
“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” the Democrats said. “We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
