WASHINGTON — Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson is facing a potential challenge to his leadership as U.S. Speaker of the House.
Hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to strip Johnson of the gavel.
“Today I filed a motion to vacate after Speaker Johnson has betrayed our conference and broken our rules,” Greene said.
The potential revolt comes just as Congress heads home for the two-week Easter break.
Greene, a conservative firebrand from Georgia claims the house speaker has betrayed the American people and the Republican party by working with Democrats to pass a $1.2 trillion funding package to avoid a partial government shutdown.
“I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and to throw the House in chaos,” Greene said. “But this is basically a warning.”
Rep. Troy Carter, D-Louisiana called Greene’s effort to block a bi-partisan effort to fund government “unfortunate and reckless.”
“For her to castigate the speaker, who happens to be a member of her party shows the disfunction within that band of bandits, if you will, who are standing in the gap to try and block our progress,” Carter said.
Political Pollster Ron Faucheux doesn’t believe Greene has the support to remove Johnson from the speakership.
“One of the main reasons why they would not vote, I think to vacate Mike Johnson’s position as speaker is they would have no one else they could agree upon to elect as the new speaker,” Faucheux said.
Congressman Carter is clear where he stands on the issue.
“I’m not going to side with Majorie Taylor Greene, you can believe that,” Carter said. “I don’t think it’s good for our country to have another speaker showdown.”
This is the same political maneuver that ended up removing the last Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy five months ago.
In a statement from Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader called Johnson a good friend.
“I am opposed to any motion to vacate the chair, and am committed to working with Speaker Johnson to grow our majority and get President Trump back in the White House so we can save our country,” Scalise added.”
It’s unclear whether Greene will call for a vote on her motion to vacate when Congress returns from the Easter break.