House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke candidly about the recent motion to resign filed by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia in an interview on “Sunday Night in America.”
Greene accused Johnson of betraying the “trust” of the House Republican conference by pushing through a bipartisan $1.2 trillion federal funding bill to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Councilman Greene brings motion to Speaker Mike Johnson: ‘I’m not creating chaos, I’m forcing change.’
Host Trey Gowdy questioned the value of a withdrawal motion amid a national crisis. “How will this resignation motion help us regain a majority, or even a larger majority?” he asked on Sunday night.
“I don’t think so, and I think all my Republican colleagues recognize that this is a diversion from our mission,” Johnson responded. “Again, the mission is to save the republic, and the only way we can accomplish that is by increasing our House majority, winning the Senate, and winning the White House. So any disagreements at this point You don’t need it either.”
House Speaker Johnson assured Mr. Gowdy that the motion brought by Mr. Greene was “not a privileged motion” and would not be “automatically” tabled. He added, “It’s just hanging there.”
Republican hardliners furious at Johnson after passing separate short-term spending bill with Democrats: ‘CP as usual’
Mr Johnson later revealed that he had “exchanged text messages” with Mr Green on Easter Sunday, adding: “We will be talking early next week.”
He also cited the “razor-like majority” as a reason why the bipartisan $1.2 trillion federal funding bill was not “perfect.”
“Marjorie is a friend. She’s very unhappy about, say, the last spending bill. You know what? So am I,” Johnson added. “As we have discussed, Trey, these are not the perfect bills that you and I and Marjorie would have drafted if we had the ability to do so differently. But they are the smallest in U.S. history. “And Democrats know that if we don’t all come together with a razor-thin majority, we’ll have an advantage in negotiations.” That’s why we got some things we didn’t like. ”
Marjorie Taylor Greene submits motion to Chairman Johnson
He also said he was “disturbed” by some of the “terrible content” contained in the federal funding bill.
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“I look forward to talking with her about reforming the budgeting and spending process going forward. That’s what the Republican Party is about, and when we all come together, we can make change.”
FOX News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
