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“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Wednesday she will move ahead with her attempt to oust Speaker Mike Johnson from the House's top job… Greene's press conference came one day after House Democratic leadership announced that if a motion to vacate Johnson is brought to the House floor for a vote, they would vote to table the effort -- effectively saving the speaker from ouster.” ABC News
Both sides are critical of Greene’s effort to oust Johnson:
“Ms. Greene and Mr. Massie don’t have the votes to remove Mr. Johnson; they’ll get there only if he throws in the towel. They can’t replicate last October’s ouster, when eight Republicans combined with 208 Democrats to sack then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Democrats must understand that removing Mr. McCarthy made Congress—including their party—look out of control and incompetent. They won’t get suckered into joining the GOP chaos caucus in removing the speaker this time…
“Although Washington remains chaotic, the recent successes there are worth celebrating. Essential military aid is on its way to allies who are under attack; their victories are crucial to America’s prosperity and security. A new national figure has emerged: the soft-spoken speaker, who is showing leadership and restoring confidence in Republican principles. And the GOP’s collection of lightweights and populist cranks are revealing themselves as increasingly impotent.”
Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal
“The realization that this is someone Republicans shouldn’t hitch their brand to has been dawning for a while. Greene isn’t even particularly popular with the GOP base; an early-2023 poll showed her image among Republicans (30 percent favorable, compared to 19 percent unfavorable) was better only than now-former congressman George Santos (N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) among a list of 11 high-profile Republicans. She was one of the GOP’s biggest underperformers in the 2022 election…
“Nor is her current crusade particularly in line with the GOP base; a Monmouth University poll Wednesday showed just 20 percent of Republicans want Johnson out. Another 32 percent oppose that, and 47 percent have no opinion.”
Aaron Blake, Washington Post
“Several Republican lawmakers, even those in the conservative wing of the party, have indicated they would not support the initiative to remove Johnson as speaker. ‘I oppose a motion to vacate at the current time,’ said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who led the ouster against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said the move is ‘pretty much not gonna happen’ because they are ‘at too much of a slim majority.’ Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) shared [similar] sentiments…
“House Republicans appear to be reading the writing on the wall. They recognize that dragging the nation through another effort to replace Johnson would be about as smart as trying to breathe underwater. Not only would it fail, but it would also send the message to the voting public that they are not serious about working for the American people. Such a move would undoubtedly cost them big at the ballot box in November.”
Jeff Charles, RedState
“In 2009, when the Republican congressman Joe Wilson shattered decorum by shouting ‘You lie!’ at Obama during an address to Congress, conservative donors immediately showered Wilson’s campaign with a million dollars in small donations. And Greene, who has developed a habit of interrupting addresses by Joe Biden, is the House Republican with the highest proportion of contributions that are less than two hundred dollars…
“Capitol Hill veterans say that her noisy campaign against Johnson—which has made her a fixture on Fox News for weeks, with no end in sight—is impossible to understand without considering her financial incentives. Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist who has been a top spokesperson for Republican leaders in the House and the Senate, told me that campaign fund-raising was ‘a huge angle’ behind Greene’s public dissents. ‘It is an opportunity for her to raise a lot of money very quickly,’ he said.”
David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker
Other opinions below.
“Republicans already subjected themselves to painful mockery last fall by letting their right-wingers take down Speaker Kevin McCarthy without a succession plan in mind. It took them three failed candidates and three inglorious weeks to finally install Mr. Johnson. Precious few members are likely up for a second helping of humiliation this much closer to Election Day. I mean, not even Donald Trump is throwing in with ‘Moscow Marjorie’…
“Could this show of spine by non-winger Republicans last more than a hot second? Maybe Mr. Johnson is recognizing that his responsibilities as the head of the people’s house go beyond serving his trolliest, most obstructionist members. And maybe, unlike Mr. McCarthy, who never exhibited signs of possessing a moral core, Mr. Johnson is serious about trying to do ‘the right thing’ — by which he does not simply mean whatever Mr. Trump tells him to do.”
Michelle Cottle, New York Times
“The ironic nature of what Greene is attempting to do is clearly lost on her. The basis for her complaint is that Johnson has moved forward bills that required the support of some Democrats to pass. But in order for this scheme to succeed, she would need the support of a lot of Democrats to vacate the Speaker's seat. The possibility that she will prove unable to gain that Democratic support only makes the situation more wryly humorous…
“There is an opportunity appearing (though far from a certainty) for the Republicans to take back not only the White House but also the Majority in the Senate and perhaps a significantly expanded majority in the House. In order to achieve those goals, however, the GOP needs to demonstrate that it actually has the ability to lead in a functional fashion and move forward with policies that will truly benefit Americans across the board.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
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