Firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene revealed she hit Speaker Mike Johnson with an ultimatum before she tried to topple him in a failed mutiny.
Greene (R-Ga.) met with Johnson (R-La.) at least twice last week in the run-up to her bid to oust him — a move that would’ve needed Democrats to side with her in order to succeed.
“I said, ‘Look, if you’ll defund [special counsel] Jack Smith, then I’ll reconsider this motion,’” Greene recounted on Fox News‘ “Sunday Morning Futures.
“This is something the American people are sick and tired of. They’re fed up with Republicans that will not defend President Trump.”
Johnson expressed openness to reforming the rules governing special counsels last week, telling reporters, “We’re looking very intently at it because I think the problem has reached a crescendo.”
He later told Politico point blank that he is not prepared to eliminate Smith’s job via the appropriations process.
“That’s not something you wave a wand and just eliminate the special counsel as a provision,” Johnson told the outlet.
“There is a necessity for a function like that because sometimes the Department of Justice — which is an executive branch agency — can’t necessarily, without a conflict of interest, investigate or prosecute the president who’s their boss, or the president’s family.”
Johnson doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally defund Smith’s office. Given Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the lower chamber and the Democratic control over the Senate, the GOP lacks the power to defund the special counsel.
Greene raged against the speaker’s comments to Politico, saying, “Mike Johnson’s owned by the Democrats and that proved me to be right again.”
Prior to privileging her motion to oust Johnson, Greene publicly revealed her demands of Johnson, which were: to not send war-torn Ukraine any more assistance, defund the special counsel, pass 12 appropriations bills rather than an omnibus, and abide by the Hastert Rule.
The Hastert Rule is a principle in which leadership won’t take up legislation on the House floor without the backing of a Republican majority. Johnson deviated from that when he pushed through the $61 billion Ukraine aid bill — something to which a majority of House Republicans objected.
Ironically, Greene’s gambit to dethrone Johnson only had a tiny minority of House Republicans behind it. Even Trump opposed her revolt.
Her longstanding threat against Johnson went up in flames last Wednesday in a 359-43 vote, with 196 Republicans and 163 voting to table her motion.
Democrats indicated they’d toss Johnson a lifeline after he elicited Greene’s wrath by taking up Ukraine aid.
She would’ve needed Democrats to play ball like they did in the October mutiny against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — something Greene opposed.
“I feel like this time the Democrats and the Republicans stuck together and exposed the uni-party like it’s never been seen before,” Greene further chided.
Greene revealed that she spoke with Trump after her ouster bid collapsed and underscored the 45th president’s assertion that a motion to vacate the chair may be warranted “at some point.
“The most important thing everyone needs to know is that people want a Republican Party that will fight,” Greene added.
