Speaker Johnson says he holds no grudge against MTG over vacate move

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he just wants to move on from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “unfortunate” motion to oust him.

“I don’t hold grudges. I’ve got to work with everybody. I told her last night before she left the floor, ’Let’s move on, Marjorie. I’m OK with this. Let’s move on,’” Mr. Johnson said Thursday on “Fox & Friends.”

Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, shocked many Wednesday when she brought up the motion to vacate after threatening Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, with it for weeks. Her effort was short-lived, with the vote 359-43 to table to motion.

When asked if he considers Ms. Greene a “serious legislator,” Mr. Johnson said it’s not his place to decide.

“Look, I’m going to let other people judge Marjorie,” he said. “I’ve got to work with all my colleagues here. I’m not mad at anybody.”

Ms. Greene originally brought up the motion to vacate after the speaker worked with Democrats to pass a bipartisan government funding bill to stop a government shutdown. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and his team, have been telling her to let it go.

She has ripped Mr. Johnson as “the uniparty speaker of the House” that “didn’t stop the border crisis, didn’t stop funding foreign wars, didn’t protect America’s energy industry, didn’t cut spending to reduce inflation, didn’t defund the weaponized government.”

Mr. Johnson said, despite what House conservatives want, not everything can get done with their slim majority.

“We advance our conservative policies and principles as far as we can here every single day up the field, in spite the fact that we have the smallest majority in U.S. history,” he said. “We can’t get 100% of what we want, and sometimes a handful of my colleagues demand that. It’s just not possible right now.”

The motion to vacate was tabled with the help of 163 Democrats. Former Rep. Kevin McCarthy didn’t enjoy the same luxury of Democrats’ help when he was ousted in October. Mr. Johnson said he thinks he got the help because Democrats “believe in the institution and they see exactly what we see and the American people see.”

“These are dangerous times,” he said. “And the country desperately needs a functioning Congress. We can’t afford the risk of shutting the House down, which is literally what happened last time.”