After ousting Kevin McCarthy, Republicans elected Mike Johnson to take the helm. But now he’s on the chopping block.
And House Speaker Johnson’s future is in question after a high-profile betrayal.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appears to be plotting to depose House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) if he passes an agreement that delivers funds to Ukraine.
“I would introduce the motion to vacate myself,” Greene reportedly told Axios reporter Andrew Solender on Wednesday.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tells me “I would introduce the motion to vacate myself” if Speaker Johnson passes funding to Ukraine.
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) January 17, 2024
Johnson met with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders on Wednesday to try to break a months-long impasse over border security and financing for military aid to Ukraine and Israel.
The speaker denied the possibility of a comprehensive immigration measure before of the conference, claiming that such legislation would take time and that the “catastrophe” at the border “has to be addressed” right once.
Despite opposition from Johnson and numerous House conservatives, Senate Republican leaders want to vote on legislation that combines Ukraine and Israel financing with a border security proposal.
Leading Republicans in the Senate have claimed that this is the party’s greatest chance to win significant border concessions from Democrats.
“If we had a 100% Republican government — president, House, Senate — we probably would not be able to get a single Democratic vote to pass what Senator Lankford and the administration are trying to get together on,” McConnell told reporters on Wednesday before traveling to the meeting with Biden.
“So this is a unique opportunity to accomplish something in divided government that wouldn’t be there under unified government.”
Hardline conservatives, like as Greene, have advocated that they should refuse to support the government until the border situation is resolved.
Over the weekend, the House and Senate reached an agreement on a bipartisan, two-part continuing resolution for $1.66 trillion in spending to prevent a government shutdown on Friday.
“If Republicans had a spine, and if our conference stuck together, we have all the power that we need to solve the border crisis right now. I completely disagree with [Speaker] Mike Johnson that we aren’t going to be able to do it,” Greene stated.
“I think if we just refused to fund anything, and we stood our ground, that we would come out winning that,” Greene told the Washington Examiner‘s Washington Secrets on Monday.
The problem is that Republicans need to pick their battles.
Most conservatives agree that coupling Israeli and Ukrainian war funding is not a good idea.
But what’s even more important is the millions upon millions of illegal immigrants crossing our border every year.
Not only that, but showing a fractured, and non-unified front going into 2024 could handicap Republicans at the polls.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
