Senate Conservatives Endorse Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘Terrible Idea’ to Impeach Speaker Johnson

Senate conservatives are urging Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) to abandon her effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La). They say it’s a waste of time and that Congress has higher priorities ahead of the November elections.

Greene filed her motion to vacate a month ago in protest of the chairman’s handling of Ukrainian aid, government spending and the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and Republicans are dreading the timing of a vote on the resolution enforces. The Georgia Republican announced Wednesday that she would take action next week to raise the issue.

Only two Republicans in the House of Representatives have publicly supported her efforts, and she no longer has support among Senate conservatives, many of whom believe Johnson is the right person to lead the conference and that a leadership change today would require political would be malpractice.

“It’s a terrible idea,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told The Hill. “Moses couldn’t do better than what Mike Johnson is doing now.”

“I think he does the very best in the narrow majority situation where Democrats control the Senate and the White House,” he continued. “There is no more conservative person out there who could be elected chairman than Mike Johnson.”

Johnson has largely rebuffed Greene’s attempt to remove him from the chairmanship, using the same mechanism that another group of conservatives used to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October.

He recently said in an interview that he doesn’t consider Greene a serious lawmaker.

“We’re doing the right thing and letting the chips fall where they may,” Johnson told NewsNation, which is owned by the same parent company as The Hill.

Greene’s attempt is widely expected to fail. Johnson’s conservative critics in the House of Representatives have previously indicated that they have little appetite for a repeat of the three weeks of chaos that followed after McCarthy was ousted.

And Democratic leaders, along with rank-and-file members of the party, have pledged to help save Johnson’s gavel after he put Ukrainian aid on the floor, where it was easily passed on.

Yet leading conservatives in the Senate would like to see this effort set aside.

“I think it’s completely ridiculous and counterproductive,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who is running for governor of Indiana this year, noted that the effort could hurt the Republican agenda for the rest of the year and said conservatives do not support it because there is no real fallback option. .

It took three weeks and several failed candidacies before the House Republican Conference could elect Johnson.

“Who raised their hand who would like to be (speaker)?” Braun asked.

Greene’s efforts have also been hampered in recent weeks by former President Trump’s support for Johnson.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also expressed his full support for the embattled Speaker earlier this week.

“I’m relieved because I think all of America is confident that the chaos in the House of Representatives will end,” McConnell told reporters on Wednesday. “I think it’s a benefit to our country, a benefit to the House of Representatives, a benefit to the reputation of Congress.”

While Johnson’s recent series of bipartisan deals to keep the government open and to boost aid to Ukraine have angered some conservatives, many of them have hoped to avoid a motion to leave the vote on the floor, despite Greene’s insist on putting members on the agenda. file.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a ranking member of the House Freedom Caucus, recently said that the opportunity to impeach a president “exists for reasons, but they should be used sparingly” — a sentiment shared by some of his colleagues in the Senate. just before the November elections.

Most members would much rather focus on putting Trump back in the White House and winning control of Congress rather than on what they see as a one-sided, petty battle.

“I think we’ll be in a better position come fall if we stick together as Republicans,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), herself a former member of the House Freedom Caucus.

“Don’t do it, don’t do it. That would be my suggestion,” she added.

Even those most dissatisfied with Johnson in the Senate GOP ranks won’t go so far as to throw in their lot with Greene this time. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said several times in a brief interview that Johnson has “done a terrible job” since taking over the gavel, but declined to say whether he supports the Georgia Republican’s actions.

“That’s up to them to decide. That’s not for me to say,” Paul said.