Marjorie Taylor Greene Says It’s ‘Clear And Obvious’ That Speaker Johnson Has Lost GOP Support In the House
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) spoke to reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, following a Republican Conference meeting, about her ongoing efforts to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his position.
“Congresswoman, where do things stand on the motion to vacate?” a reporter asked the controversial congresswoman.
“I sent a letter out to my colleagues yesterday morning. The current discussions in our conference meeting this morning is about FISA. But it’s pretty clear and obvious and being whispered among the conference. Mike Johnson does not have the support of the conference,” Greene replied, adding:
The letter that I sent has been well received, and it was basically speaking the quiet part out loud. He’s in there urging, members to reauthorize FISA. And I don’t think he has the votes for it right now. As what I’m gathering. We’re going to be working on this. We do not believe in warrantless spying on the American people, especially when this bill, carves out the ability for Congress to be notified when a member of Congress is going to be, looked at through the FISA court. That’s completely unfair. The same thing should apply for the American people. But Mike Johnson doesn’t have the trust of the conference. And that’s become very clear.
Greene and the reporters went on to discuss the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Trump-allied opponents oppose as it was used to gather information on Russian intelligence operations around Trump’s campaign during the 2016 presidential election.
Later in the exchange, a reporter pivoted back to Johnson, asking, “What would it mean for Speaker Johnson if Democrats were to step in and save him if you offered your motion?”
“Well, I think it would, prove me absolutely right that he’s the Democrat speaker of the House, not the Republicans’ elected speaker,” Greene replied, repeating her jab that Johnson is effectively a Democrat.
“Have you discussed with colleagues when you’ll bring the motion to vacate?” another reporter asked.
“No, I haven’t, and I understand your question. I’ve been asked many times by the press here. What a red line is, what a trigger is, what a date? I don’t have that for you. I respect my conference. I respect all the members here. I support the majority. And I think this is such an important process, that it’s something we have to work on together,” Greene replied.
Another reporter asked Greene if FISA could be a breaking point for Johnson as he supports the reauthorization to bolster national security, while Trump has urged Republicans to “Kill FISA.”
Greene replied, “How he handles the FISA process and how he handles funding Ukraine is going to tell our entire conference, how to handle a motion to vacate.”
“One more thing,” asked another reporter as Greene was trying to walk away.
“Speaker Johnson in there, we were told you mentioned that he spoke to Trump last night. How what do you see that as? I mean, if he’s going ahead with this bill and he says he spoke to Trump, is he trying to namedrop Trump to sort of try to, assuage some concerns from you guys? I mean, what do you what do you see as his thinking?” asked the reporter.
“Well, he said he spoke to President Trump last night, but he said they did not talk about FISA, which I think is a major error of his. If you’re the speaker of the House, I would think FISA reauthorization would be something you would talk about with him,” Greene replied.
Watch the full clip above via C-SPAN.
