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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene refused to drop her push to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson after they faced off in a tense closed-door meeting, but she still stopped short of forcing a vote to remove him from the chamber’s top post.
Instead of giving a solid red line, Ms. Greene said she would be watching how Mr. Johnson handled a pair of divisive issues: renewing the government’s most powerful spying powers and sending more aid to Ukraine.
The Georgia Republican has accused Mr. Johnson of eschewing the GOP’s agenda in favor of Democrats’ policy goals since winning the gavel in October, including passing a colossal $1.2 trillion spending bill last month.
“This is not going to be tolerated by Republicans and it’s not the way to win elections,” Ms. Greene said. “Our Republican voters do not want to vote for a Democrat agenda. They want to vote for a Republican agenda.”
Ms. Greene said that her ouster threat, which she filed last month, was not a personal slight against the speaker, who considers her to be a friend who shares the same conservative philosophy.
“We’re both conservatives, you know, but we do disagree sometimes on strategy,” said Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican. “And with regard to what we put on the floor and when … Marjorie is frustrated by the last appropriations package, the spending bills, and you know what, so am I.”
But Ms. Greene characterized her discussion with the speaker as one where Mr. Johnson “made excuses” and didn’t offer promises for how he would handle the pair of hot-button policy and spending issues.
She said he offered her an advisory position on a so-called “kitchen cabinet.” She did not refuse the informal post, but said she would wait and see what the position would entail.
Ms. Greene would not confirm if she had enough support to oust Mr. Johnson the same way his predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, was ejected from the speaker job. She noted that no one was trying to stop her and that she was hearing “a lot of agreement” from her colleagues about Mr. Johnson’s shortcomings.
Other Republicans, regardless of their view of Mr. Johnson’s performance as speaker, argue that it’s not the time to invite a chaotic race to replace him.
“It’s not the time,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, South Carolina Republican. “As much as I disagree with Mike Johnson’s handling of things … you’ve got a situation where the House has to function and you’ve got to have a speaker.”
A solid chunk of Republicans are not buying into Ms. Greene’s crusade.
Rep. Max Miller, Ohio Republican, said that Ms. Greene was “acting as a party of one.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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