When Rep. Matt Gaetz decided in the fall that it was time to try to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the process unfolded rather quickly. On Monday, Oct. 2, the Florida Republican took the procedural step, filing what’s known as a motion to vacate the chair. On Tuesday, Oct. 3 — less than 24 hours after the motion was filed — McCarthy lost his gavel.
Months later, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is eager to bring down McCarthy’s successor, though the process is proving to be vastly different.
It was three weeks ago today when the right-wing Georgian filed her own motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, though unlike Gaetz’s effort, the congresswoman did not trigger any votes. Instead, Greene effectively initiated an uncertain process and got to work looking for allies.
So far, she hasn’t found any. In fact, while Johnson has plenty of intraparty critics, a grand total of zero GOP members have publicly endorsed Greene’s effort, and it’s worth appreciating why.
Part of the problem for Greene is that she likely hoped for some assistance from her pal at Mar-a-Lago, and that help has not materialized. In fact, the opposite is true: Donald Trump is actually cozying up to Johnson as members of the former president’s team make clear that they have no use for the effort to strip the speaker of his gavel. Politico reported this week:
Trump world isn’t happy with Greene’s threat to throw the House GOP into chaos once again. There’s a fear that an election-year speakership battle will undercut the party’s goals of keeping the House and flipping the White House and Senate. “100 percent distraction. Unwanted. And just stupid,” one Trump insider told Playbook last night.
The report quoted another person close with Trump who added that the former president’s operation has grown weary of the constant motion-to-vacate threats. “It’s no way to run a party,” the source said.
But just as important is the fact that no one in the House Republican conference, including Greene, has any idea who could replace Johnson — the GOP’s fifth choice for speaker after contingents within the party rejected the other nominees. Axios reported:
House Republicans are vocal about not wanting to repeat last fall’s chaotic, protracted speaker vacancy, with many acknowledging there may be no alternative to the current speaker. One House Republican told Axios any vacancy would “devolve” into chaos, with “nobody” seen as prepared to step into Johnson’s shoes. “There is no one,” the lawmaker said.
Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, for example, said he wants to keep Johnson in office, not because of his deep support for the Louisianan, but because “nobody wants the job. Who wants the job? And who could do the job?”
Even Greene struggled with the question resulting from her own plan. When Axios pressed the Georgia Republican on who would replace Johnson, she said there “a lot of talented people” in the GOP conference. But asked if she has any specific names to offer, Greene replied, “No, I don’t.”
In other words, the beleaguered House speaker appears likely to prevail — at least for now — not because he’s done a good job and earned the respect of his colleagues, but because his party doesn’t want to deal with the power vacuum that would be left in his wake.
