Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has struck a defiant tone after the failure of her bid to remove Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
She had demanded Mr Johnson be kicked out due to his support for a $61bn aid package for Ukraine.
However, Democrats joined Republicans in a 359-43 vote to kill her motion.
Ms Greene’s speech on the House floor was met by loud boos from other members of the chamber.
On Thursday, Ms Greene posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Democrats voted to save Johnson because they knew it was impossible to take control of the House.
“They want to keep Johnson because he’s given them everything they want… The good news this morning is now the American people have been shown the truth.”
The long-telegraphed motion proved to be a rare act of defiance against the party’s presumptive presidential nominee – Donald Trump. He had previously voiced support for the House Speaker and called the drive to oust him “unfortunate”.
Image source, Getty Images
Only two other Republican members of Congress supported Ms Greene’s motion: Thomas Massie and Paul Gosar.
Joined by Mr Massie, Ms Greene stood on the House floor and criticised Mr Johnson for a series of compromises he has struck with Democrats, who hold a majority in the Senate.
“This is the ‘uniparty’ for the American people watching,” she said of politicians in the chamber as they booed her.
“By passing the Democrats’ agenda and handcuffing the Republicans’ ability and influence legislation, our elected Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country,” she added.
Mr Johnson could be seen walking around the House floor after Ms Greene began her motion, with Republican supporters shaking his hand and patting him on the back.
Shortly after the vote, Mr Johnson said he hoped this would end “the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress”.
“I’m glad that this distraction is not going to inhibit that important work and all the other things that are on the table and on the agenda for us right now,” he added.
At the time of Ms Greene’s speech, Mr Trump posted a message on his Truth Social platform calling on Republicans to reject her motion to vacate the speaker’s post.
While Mr Trump began his post with “I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene”, he told Republican members of Congress that “this is not the time” to remove Mr Johnson.
“If we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything!” he said, adding that the Republican Speaker was a “good man who is trying very hard”.
In March, Ms Greene filed the motion that would eventually trigger the vote on Mr Johnson’s removal, though it was unclear when or if she would advance it.
She did so on Wednesday by forcing the Republican-led chamber to hold a vote on the House leader’s position in no more than two legislative days.
The same legislative move was used to remove former Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the autumn, leaving the chamber without an elected leader for three weeks.
Democrats made the unusual move to back a Republican House Speaker due to the razor-thin margins in the chamber, but they recently criticised Mr Johnson for holding several meetings with her this week.
“When Speaker Johnson meets with her for hours, the American people should be asking ‘what is Marjorie Taylor Greene extracting from the speaker?'” Democratic congressman Ted Lieu said on Tuesday, according to Axios.
On Tuesday, Mr Johnson said the talks were not a “negotiation” and denied that Republican leaders were considering any concessions for her support.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
