(RepublicanNews.org) – After a government funding bill passed the House last week with less than half of GOP support, House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing increasing pressure from his own party, some of whom are looking to push him out of his position, mirroring what happened to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year.
On Friday, March 22nd, a government funding bill made it through the House, although it only gained 101 Republican votes along with the 185 Democrats in support. A majority of the GOP conference (112 representatives) voted against it.
This internal conflict was further demonstrated by Republican Rep. Majorite Taylor Greene of Georgia taking the first step toward ousting Johnson afterward. Greene announced her surprise motion to vacate Johnson on Friday on the steps of Capitol Hill, and in her statement said it was because Johnson “betrayed” the Republican conference and broke its rules.
Greene said she respects the conference and has paid all of her dues as “a member in good standing,” and that she doesn’t intend to “throw the House in chaos” with her decision. The Georgia congresswoman said the motion is “basically a warning” and that she thinks “it’s time” for the House to “go through the process,” take its time, and “find a new Speaker” who will stand with the GOP while it has the majority instead of “with the Democrats.”
Other hardline GOP members are willing to support the Speaker’s removal. One of them is Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who said that depending on what Greene “intends to do,” the GOP conference will “have to have a conversation” about Johnson’s future as House Speaker.
The hardliners took issue with the bill because it didn’t reduce spending from what it was in 2023, and excluded several restrictions Republicans wanted to see, such as on abortion and “gender-affirming care.” Greene, Roy, and others are now warning Johnson, especially if the Speaker “puts a Ukraine aid bill on the floor,” which Roy said would “be a problem” on Capitol Hill.
McCarthy, who was ousted in October 2023, defended Johnson and said the speaker is doing the “best job he can.”
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