Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been criticizing House Speaker Mike Johnson for holding a vote on an appropriations bill containing additional aid to Ukraine. She even filed a motion to oust him from the speakership, and on Tuesday, she released a lengthy letter explaining why.
However, not all conservatives have distanced themselves from Johnson. For one, former President Donald Trump is set to appear with Johnson at Mar-a-Lago on Friday… and Trump’s team has blasted Greene’s recent actions.
“One hundred percent distraction. Unwanted. And just stupid,” one Trump insider told Politico Wednesday. “We’re not going to get trapped into this cycle of bullsh*t that comes out of members of the House.”
Another insider recounted Trump’s own views about Greene’s motion to vacate.
“It’s fair to say we don’t think she’s being constructive,” the person told Politico. “The internal fighting is not appreciated by [Trump]… It’s no way to run a party; it’s no way to run a House. You can’t work in that environment.”
In an election year, lawmakers usually seek to notch some victories in the spring before turning their attention to the campaign.
Still, Greene has pushed ahead.
“Today, I sent a letter to my colleagues explaining exactly why I filed a motion to vacate against Speaker Johnson,” Greene said on social media about the procedural tool that could force the quick vote.
Greene warned Johnson against whipping Democrat votes needed to pass certain legislation, particularly budget-related proposals opposed by certain Republicans.
“I will not tolerate this type of Republican ‘leadership,’” Greene wrote in a five-page letter first reported by The New York Times.
At the Capitol, she described Johnson as the one throwing the House into “chaos” by partnering with Democrats.
”This has been a complete and total surrender to, if not complete and total lockstep with, the Democrats’ agenda that has angered our Republican base so much and given them very little reason to vote for a Republican House majority,” she wrote.
However, she has yet to call the motion up for a vote.
“I don’t have a red line or a trigger or a date or a deadline,” Greene told reporters Tuesday. “This is a process… I don’t want it to be horribly painful or like it was the last time. And I want us to do the right thing and actually elect a Republican speaker that’s ready to be speaker.”
Johnson became House speaker only six months ago, after the ouster of predecessor Kevin McCarthy. The Republicans hold only 218 of the House’s 435 seats, while the Democrats hold 213. In other words, Johnson can hardly afford to waste votes.
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., voted against McCarthy, but he sees no point in vacating yet another speaker. “I just don’t see what we could gain,” he said.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.