Tipsheet

MTG Meets With Speaker Johnson Amid Calls to Oust Him

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) met with House Speaker, Mike Johnson (R-LA) amid the Republican’s threat of removing him from his speakership. 

Following their hour-long sit-down meeting, Greene left Johnson’s office appearing frustrated that the speaker passed the “Biden administration’s agenda.”

“I got a lot of excuses," Greene told reporters, saying that there was no deal following the “direct" and "passionate” meeting. 

It was Greene and Johnson’s first time addressing one another after the Georgia Republican introduced a motion to vacate the speaker last month. 

She told reporters that she has not yet determined when— or if— she will force a vote on removing Johnson from his position. Greene said that his future as House Speaker will depend on his handling of the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and whether he is willing to no longer give additional aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia. 

“I don't want to cause harm to our conference," Greene added. "This is something that's going to take time. If [Johnson] funds the deep state and the warrantless spying on Americans, he’s telling Republican voters all over the country, that the continued behavior will happen more — spying on President Trump and spying on hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

“[I] explained that he is the Republican leader, that he is the leader of the opposition party against the Biden administration, and we expect him to lead that way, not to pass the Biden administration’s agenda,” she continued. 

The meeting comes after Greene issued a five-page letter on Tuesday to fellow Republicans, arguing that Johnson has failed to live up to his promises by negotiating with Democrats. 

During the meeting, Johnson also reportedly proposed a “kitchen Cabinet group" to advise him, asking Greene if she would be a part of it. 

“I'll wait and see what his proposal is on that," she said. "Right now, he does not have my support." 

Johnson initially planned to pass FISA, however, the rule vote to advance that legislation failed Wednesday. 

Former President Trump called on House Republicans to “kill” FISA in a Truth Social post. 

“IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”, Trump wrote on Tuesday evening.  

“We are not going to get, because of that reality, we are not going to be able to do big transformational changes that we'd like, that we know are necessary," Johnson said Wednesday. “We will never get 100% of what we want and believe is necessary for the country because that's the reality. It's a matter of math in the Congress."

He said a motion to vacate him as speaker would result in “chaos” in the House. 

Johnson said that details regarding a measure to provide more funds to Ukraine were still being discussed. 

"On the supplemental, the House members are continuing to actively discuss our options on a path forward," he added. "There are a lot of different ideas on that. It's a very complicated matter at a very complicated time. The clock is ticking on it and everyone here feels the urgency of that, but what's required is that you reach consensus on it and that's what we're working on."