Marjorie Taylor Greene incurs Republican wrath after ‘idiotic’ attempt to oust Mike Johnson

Marjorie Taylor Greene has fallen foul of her Republican colleagues after filing a motion to oust Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson over trans policies in the government’s recently passed funding package.

On Saturday (23 March), the $1.2 trillion (£949 billion) package – designed to prevent a government shutdown – was signed by president Joe Biden after Johnson encouraged fellow Republicans to support the bill by touting a pride flag ban provision within it.

However, Greene, the controversial anti-LGBTQ+ Republican representative for Georgia, was unhappy with the package because it included funding for what she called trans ‘ideology’. Johnson had “betrayed our conference and [has] broken our rules”, she claimed.

“This is basically a warning, and 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 said.

Speaking to reporters, Greene said the move is “more of a warning than a pink slip” because she does not want to “throw the house into chaos”. A “pink slip” is given to US employees who leave their jobs.

Johnson was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives last October and, like Greene, is a vocal opponent of LGBTQ+ rights. In October 2022, he introduced a measure that aimed to widen the scope of Florida’s much-criticised Don’t Say Gay law to cover the entire US.

Greene will use congress’ two-week recess to decide if she will look to have the motion formally recognised. If it is, representatives have two days to consider whether or not to take any action.

But Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Republican colleagues are far from happy with her.

According to The Hill, New York representative Mike Lawler called the motion “not only idiotic, but it actually does not do anything to advance the conservative movement”, while Louisiana’s Clay Higgins, who considers Greene a friend, called it a big mistake.

“To think that one of our Republican colleagues would call for his ousting right now, it’s abhorrent to me and I oppose it,” he said.

Other Republicans also appeared to be lining up to criticise Greene’s idea, with Indiana’s Greg Pence saying it wasn’t good for the party, and Tim Burchett, from Tennessee, who voted to get rid of Johnson’s predecessor Kevin McCarthy last year, telling Politico he had “no idea” what his colleague was doing and would not be supporting her.

Raj Shah, a spokesman for Johnson, said the Speaker “always listens to the concerns of members, but is focused on governing”, adding: “He will continue to push conservative legislation that secures our border, strengthens our national defence and demonstrates how we’ll grow our majority.”

• Dec 31 2024

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