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Marjorie Taylor Greene, the hardline Republican congresswoman and close ally of Donald Trump, has launched a bid to oust Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House of Representatives, as chaos gripped the party’s slim majority in the lower chamber of the US Congress.
Although Greene did not put a timeline on when she would seek a vote to remove Johnson, she said he had “filed” a “motion to vacate” Johnson as a “warning” about her push to remove him from office.
“It’s time for us to go through the process, take our time, and find a new Speaker of the House, who will stand with Republicans and our Republican majority instead of standing with the Democrats,” she told reporters outside the Capitol after taking the step.
Greene’s move was triggered by a vote in the House on Friday to approve a budget for the federal government until the end of the fiscal year in September, thereby avoiding a partial shutdown.
Greene and others on the right flank of the Republican party have blasted the compromise with Democrats, saying it would entrench high spending levels. But Greene has also been agitating against any future move by Johnson to hold a vote on sending additional security aid to Kyiv to help Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.
Greene’s move comes on the eve of a two-week recess during which the House is not expected to be in session, but the push will plunge the chamber’s Republicans back into turmoil.
Johnson, a congressman from Louisiana, was only elected Speaker last October after a Trump-aligned faction of lawmakers ousted Kevin McCarthy after he struck a deal with Democrats to keep the government funded.
Johnson did not react to Greene’s move immediately but praised passage of the spending legislation, which now heads to the Senate.
“House Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defence,” the Speaker said.
Greene’s move risks reigniting concerns about the Republican party’s ability to govern, which could harm its chances of holding on to its majority in the chamber in elections this November.
Depending on how many Republicans join Greene in seeking to oust Johnson, he could need Democratic support to keep his job. Democrats will probably seek to extract concessions from Johnson to support his speakership.
“I do not support Speaker Johnson but I will never stand by and let MTG . . . take over the people’s House,” Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democratic congressman, wrote on X on Friday, referring to Greene by her initials.
Trump did not immediately react to the move by Greene, who has joined him on stage at recent campaign events.
Johnson met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort last month and has endorsed the former president’s White House bid. But the “motion to vacate” filed by Greene is evidence that dissatisfaction with the speaker is starting to grow among allies of Trump in Congress.
Once Greene decides to follow through with her move, a vote on Johnson’s position would have to occur within two days.
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