Johnson’s critics hold off on motion to vacate

At the close of two days of suspense, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., still has not moved against House Speaker Mike Johnson—something she vowed to do last week.

Greene previously said she planned to force a vote on a motion to remove Johnson from the speakership. But after two prolonged meetings with Johnson, her resolve to follow through with the motion to vacate seems to have softened.

“The ball is in Mike Johnson’s court,” Greene told reporters after one of their meetings. “What I’m trying to do is give Mike Johnson a chance to be a Republican speaker. And he seems willing to try to do that. We’ll see what happens.”

Greene first proposed the motion to vacate over frustrations that Johnson hadn’t done enough to secure conservative wins in key policy areas such as government funding and border security. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., joined her motion as a co-sponsor in April. Johnson’s tenure as speaker first started in October after a small group of Republicans joined Democrats to remove his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the speaker’s role over similar frustrations.

While Johnson’s future as speaker remains uncertain, Greene’s reluctance, as well as support from former President Donald Trump, has propped up Johnson as he makes plans for the coming months.

“I intend to lead this conference in the future,” Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday morning. “The remarks were his first concrete statement on whether he intends to try to remain speaker following elections in November. Johnson and Greene have both spoken with Trump and said he opposes the motion to vacate.

“We have plans for the next Congress, and we’ve been outlining a lot of that, but right now it’s all hands on deck. I’m honored to be doing that, I expect to be doing that in the future, I’m glad to have the support of President Trump,” Johnson said.

Greene has admitted publicly that she and Trump don’t see eye-to-eye on the speaker, though she has declined to offer more detail on those conversations. If Johnson is going to stick around, she has specific demands for him.

“I went in asking for four simple things,” Greene said on a recent podcast appearance with Republican strategist Steve Bannon. “That he obey the Hastert rule, which means no bills are brought to the floor unless the majority of the majority support it. No more funding for Ukraine, period.”

Greene’s second two requests are much more difficult. She wants Congress to defund the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who has brought federal charges against Trump for mishandling classified documents and election interference. Greene also wants continued reforms to the budget process or a 1 percent cut to government spending.

Johnson has said the conversations between him, Greene, and Massie aren’t negotiations. Instead, he framed them as a mutual conversation.

“It was a good discussion, I thought it was productive,” Johnson said. “It’s not a negotiation, OK? Everybody knows I have lengthy discussions, detailed discussions, on a daily basis with members across the conference. What’s required when you have the smallest majority in history is that you have to get, quite literally, everyone to work together. My door has been open from Day One.”

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who ran against Johnson for the speakership back in October, applauded him for hearing out those calling for him to step aside.

“That’s what you do as a leader: you listen to the people that you lead,” Hern said. “But after listening, you ultimately have to act. How he decides to act is what will determine his future and the direction of the conference.”

He also urged Johnson to stay away from doing anything in secret—a criticism of former Speaker McCarthy.

“What I will have a problem with is if you start making special deals, side deals, hidden deals behind closed doors,” Hern said. “Then people, not just conservatives but moderates, everyone says, well, what about my deal? I think he’s very cognizant of that.”