Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene warned her congressional colleagues Tuesday she would move to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson ought to Congress cross army help for Ukraine however maintain off on approving conservative priorities like US border enforcement.
“I can’t tolerate our elected Republican Speaker Mike Johnson serving the Democrats and the Biden administration and serving to them obtain their insurance policies which are destroying our nation,” Greene (R-Ga.) wrote in a scathing “Expensive Colleague” letter, a duplicate of which was obtained by The Publish, explaining her menace to take away Johnson (R-La.) over a further $60 billion in Ukraine funding.
“This has been a whole and complete give up to, if not full and complete lockstep with, the Democrats’ agenda that has angered our Republican base a lot and given them little or no cause to vote for a Republican Home majority,” Greene added.
The rabble-rouser additionally accused Johnson of “throwing our personal razor-thin majority into chaos by not serving his personal GOP convention that elected him” — as her personal menace to oust him hangs within the steadiness.
“I feel all of my different Republican colleagues acknowledge it is a distraction from our mission,” the speaker said on Fox Information March 31 of Greene’s movement to vacate the chair, which she filed March 22. “She’s very pissed off about, for instance, the final appropriations payments.”
Greene filed her movement because the Home was voting to approve $1.66 trillion in federal spending packages for the rest of fiscal 12 months 2024, and later threatened to pressure a vote on the decision if Johnson brings Ukraine aid to the floor.
The movement to vacate shouldn’t be privileged, that means it didn’t instantly obtain a vote however could be referred to as up if the Georgia congresswoman chooses to vary its designation.
In her letter, Greene accused Johnson of fixing positions on the Ukraine-Russia conflict since he was elevated to the speaker’s chair — and of being on the incorrect facet of the difficulty from American voters, with latest polling discovering that just about three-quarters help a negotiated peace.
Officials from NATO nations, President Biden and the congressional Gang of 4 — together with Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — have all referred to as on Johnson to cross Ukraine funding.
The Senate in February handed a $95 billion nationwide safety supplemental invoice with funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, nevertheless it has languished within the Home ever since.
On Tuesday, Greene additionally floated one other potential purple line for her vacate movement, associated to the reauthorization of Part 702 of the Overseas Intelligence Surveillance Act, which privacy-minded lawmakers have opposed as a consequence of it granting federal regulation enforcement the flexibility to surveil People and not using a warrant.
Greene went on to accuse Johnson of failing to dwell as much as the “seven tenets” of conservative management that he pledged would information his management choices after winning the gavel last October — whereas passing hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in left-wing earmarks as a part of federal spending payments.
“Permitting us at some point, relatively than 72 hours, to evaluate a 1,000-plus-page invoice to which no amendments may very well be supplied was not ‘making certain complete transparency, open processes, and common order,’” she mentioned of the federal government funding invoice that prompted her movement to vacate, citing one among Johnson’s tenets.
“Even with our razor-thin Republican majority, we may have at the least secured the border, with it being the primary subject within the nation and being the difficulty that’s inflicting Biden to lose in ballot after ballot,” she added.
“We may have additionally taken out funding for abortion and the trans agenda on youngsters if our personal speaker would have allowed us to supply amendments,” she additionally mentioned of the earmarks packed into the invoice {that a} majority of Home Republicans voted in opposition to.
“As an alternative, Mike Johnson labored with Chuck Schumer relatively than with us, and gave Joe Biden and the Democrats every little thing they wished — no totally different from how a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would have achieved,” Greene fumed, referring to the New York Democrat.
The Georgian then denied that getting into one other speakership battle would imperil the Republican Home majority — and hand it to the Democrats forward of the Nov. 5 election.
“That solely occurs if extra Republicans retire early, or Republicans really vote for Hakeem Jeffries,” Greene claimed. “It’s not sophisticated, it’s basic math.”
Johnson’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The Home is at present comprised of 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats, with 4 vacancies. The GOP quantity shall be lowered to 217 with the retirement of Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) on April 19, that means Republicans can solely lose one vote earlier than counting on Democrats to cross laws.
