LOS ANGELES.–Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) formally called for a notice to vacate for 52-yar-old House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-la.) for daring to put 81-year-old President Joe Biden’s $95 billion request for foreign aid, $60 billion going to Ukraine for a House vote April 23 with $28 billion Israel and the balance to Taiwan and others. Greene wanted Johnson to stick to the conservative line which would have deprived Ukraine of more war funding, something pushed by 77-year-old former President Donald Trump and other House and Senate conservatives. Before Johnson permitted the House floor vote, defying Trump and conservatives like Greene who opposed any more Ukraine funding, it sat for months. Trump and conservatives think there’s a better way to handle Ukraine than to extend the proxy war with the Kremlin indefinitely, something $60 billion does for Kiev.
Greene wants to pursue the notice to vacate Johnson’s position, knowing that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), most likely the next House Speaker if Democrats succeed in November, said he would save Johnson, rather than go through the chaos for the remainder of 2024. “Every member of Congress needs to take that vote,” Greene said. “I can’t wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican Speaker and have to home to their primaries . . . And I also can’t wait to see my Republican conference show their cards and show who we are,” Greene said, pushing ahead with the vote next week to oust Johnson. “Are they willing to actually fight? Or are they going to just keep going along to get along,” Greene said, referring to Republicans who supported the $95 billion foreign aid package. Greene knows that Johnson was in the House majority bringing the bill to a vote.
Greene’s call for a vote to vacate stems from her disappointment that when Johnson took over Oct. 25, 2023 from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), he told the Freedom Caucus that he was one of them. Greene avoided the vote on Biden’s $95 billion request for months until he succumbed to the pressure, explaining his own position, that he was concerned about Ukraine losing the war with the Kremlin. Johnson said his son plans to enter the U.S. Air Force Academy in the fall and doesn’t want him fighting in WW III, if Ukraine loses the war. Whatever the reason behind Johnson’s personal decision to back more Ukraine War funding, Greene represents a small minority of the GOP that opposes the funding. Democrats and most Republicans agree with Biden’s narrative that without backing Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin would take over Europe.
Greene agrees with 77-year-old former President Donald Trump that the war can end in 24 hours, telling Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. will no longer subsidize the war or pay for the bankrupt Kiev government. Since the war began Feb. 24, 2022, Biden has been shelling out billions, now more than $200 billion to pay for Zelensky’s salary, pension and those his cronies and Kiev civil servants. Trump’s approach would push Zelensky, kicking-and-screaming, to the peace table. Zelensky and Biden have rejected all peace plans from a variety of countries that want the two sides to negotiate and compromise for the sake of world peace. Zelensky rejects any attempt to cede Putin any territory in Ukraine, even though he controls Crimea and most of the Donbas region, the areas near the industrialized Russian border region.
Greene has taken out her ire on Johnson when she should focus on the vast majority of Republicans that back aid for Ukraine. “I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by having a motion to vacate the chair at this point in time,” said Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.). Greene’s antics of trying to get rid of Johnson could tip the balance of voters in the fall when they choose who should be in charge of the House. All the dysfunction reported by the press within Republican ranks tells voters that the GOP can’t government without conflict. Whatever differences with Democrats, Greene doesn’t speak for the vast majority of House Republicans that backed Biden’s $95 billion foreign aid bill. Greene is angry that she’s part of a vocal but feckless GOP minority that backs Trump’s plans to end Ukraine War funding. Greene’s latest antics turn off voters and make the GOP look bad.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
