Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) supports retaliating against Republicans who oppose him, he reportedly told high-dollar donors at the swanky Four Seasons in Washington.
Johnson signaled to the high-powered group at a fundraiser on Sunday that he would support kicking members who blocked his coalition government’s legislative agenda off committees. He also said he is in favor of changing House rules – such as rules on the motion to vacate – at the end of this Congress.
His remarks come as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) gets ready to trigger a vote this week on her motion to vacate the chair, the same procedural motion which ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the speakership in October last year.
Greene announced she would force the vote after what Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) calls Johnson’s “three betrayals.” Specifically, Johnson ended work being done to pass each of the 12 individual appropriations bills and passed a two-part omnibus bill overwhelmingly supported by Democrats, rammed through a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after casting the deciding vote to kill a warrant requirement for spying on Americans, and carried out a scheme to unlock tens of billions in Ukraine aid despite promising not to do so without addressing the border crisis.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) went as far as claiming it is he, not Johnson, controlling the House agenda.
Greene responded to the Punchbowl News report Monday that the problem inside the House Republican Conference lies with Johnson himself.
“Speaker Mike Johnson is talking about kicking Republican members off of committees if we vote against his rules/bills,” she remarked on X. “This comes after he’s serving Chuck Schumer and Biden’s every single wish and passing major bills with Democrats and not the majority of Republicans!
“It’s not us who is out of line, it’s our Republican elected Speaker!!”
Speaker Mike Johnson is talking about kicking Republican members off of committees if we vote against his rules/bills.
This comes after he’s serving Chuck Schumer and Biden’s every single wish and passing major bills with Democrats and not the majority of Republicans!
It’s not…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 6, 2024
Conservative Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Massie were appointed to the powerful House Rules Committee in January 2023 as part of McCarthy’s gavel-winning concessions to conservatives. The shadowy committee, long known as “the Speaker’s committee” for the outsize influence Speakers exert on it, controls the legislative agenda of the House floor through what are called rules.
Votes on rules in the committee are generally little more than a rubber stamp for the Speaker. But the conservative trio of lawmakers shifted the balance of power in the committee, which consists of nine majority members and four minority members, enabling them to hold up legislation to ensure a speaker considers conservative concerns before ramming legislation through.
Johnson has made history by working with Democrats to send legislation to the floor over the objections of conservatives within his own party.
The House also must vote to pass rules on the floor before voting on underlying legislation. As on the Rules Committee, it is incredibly rare for the minority party to vote on a rule issued by the majority.
Yet Johnson has resorted to passing legislation on the House floor with Democrat rules, effectively forming a coalition government with Democrats.
Greene’s vote is likely to be tabled by Johnson, with Jeffries and Democrat leaders vowing to save Johnson once on a motion to table. If Greene persists by forcing a vote a second time – or more – all bets are off.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
