House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he plans to pursue the gavel in the next Congress, insisting he has not “negotiated” to retain the office with far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Rep. Johnson (R-Louisiana) huddled with Rep. Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Thomas Massey (R-Ky.) in his office for about two hours Monday evening.
“I thought it was productive. I’ll be visiting again today. It’s not a negotiation. This is how I’ve operated as a speaker,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “Everyone knows that I have long, detailed discussions every day with members across the conference. There are 217 of us. [Republicans]”
“There’s nothing unusual about this. Just like I’ve been listening to every day for the last six months, I’ve heard Marjorie and Thomas’ thoughts, I’ve heard other people’s thoughts.” he added. “Everyone has the same opportunity to do it.”
“It’s not a negotiation at all.”
But Mr. Green appears to believe that he is indeed negotiating with Mr. Johnson, and on Tuesday laid out four demands to Mr. Johnson, asking him to submit a motion to resign if he does not accept them.
beginning, Greene told President Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon.And she wants Prime Minister Johnson to implement the Hastert rule, which means bills that are not supported by most Republicans will not be brought to the House for a vote.
Last month, Johnson discussed a plan to provide about $61 billion in military aid to war-torn Ukraine. 311-112 votes 101 Republicans said they were “in favor” and 112 Republicans were “against.”
The vote appeared to be the final straw for Greene, who has threatened Johnson since March and said she would move forward with a vote on her resignation motion.
Second, Mr. Green wants funding to Ukraine cut off.
This is likely to upset Democratic leaders, who have promised to bail out Mr. Johnson because of his vote on aid to Ukraine.
Third, Mr. Greene wanted Mr. Johnson to introduce a bill to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office, a request that Mr. Johnson appeared to agree to.
“There has been a lot of discussion for a long time, especially among House Republicans, about the abuses of the special counsel,” he said.
“We are looking into this matter diligently because we believe it has reached a climax.”
That could frustrate House Democrats, who had been trying to throw Johnson a lifeline.
Fourth, Ms. Greene said that rather than lumping together 12 separate spending bills to fund the government into a package for omnibuses and minibuses, as the House of Representatives did in March, The hope is to pass it by September 30th.
“If we don’t get 12 separate spending bills, we have to cut spending by 1% or we won’t do anything,” he said.
“I have high expectations and I have to meet those expectations completely. There’s no middle ground. There’s no compromise,” Green added.
By Tuesday afternoon, she withdrew her imminent threat to trigger Johnson’s removal, telling reporters: No immediate deadline for the speaker to meet her demands.
So far, Greene enjoys the support of Massie and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) if she decides to move forward with the eviction motion.
“You won’t believe what’s being said right now. ‘Oh, let’s get back at her. She’s going to lose her committee assignments in the next Congress. She’s going to get a primary.’ We’re going to go after her,” Green said. “That’s a little bit of chatter going on around Washington, D.C., right now.”
Former President Donald Trump, 77, called Greene over the weekend and urged her to stand up to Johnson. According to Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.)
Greene declined to discuss her conversation with Trump.
“I’ve been fighting for President Trump as much as anyone in Washington, D.C., and now everyone’s trying to act like there’s a problem between us. And I’ll say right now, , no problem,” she said.
Regardless of whether or when his resignation motion is put to a vote, Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted on Tuesday that he was not going anywhere.
“I intend to lead this conference in the future,” he told reporters. “I believe my number one job and responsibility is to maintain and expand the House majority in November. That is my sole focus.”
