Marjorie Taylor Greene Chickens Out On Moving Against Mike Johnson

WASHINGTON — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said last week that she would force the House of Representatives to hold a referendum on whether to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this week, but so far she’s not doing it.

Greene emerged from a meeting with Johnson on Tuesday saying that “the ball is in Mike Johnson’s court” to act on a set of “suggestions” for running the House that she and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) presented to the speaker.

Asked about the timeline for Johnson to respond, Greene wouldn’t be specific.

“That’s up to Mike Johnson, and it can’t drag out,” she said. “These are things that have to be done.”

The suggestions — Greene and Massie have insisted that they aren’t demands — include only allowing votes on bills with support from a majority of Republicans, not providing further funding for Ukraine, and defunding the special counsel prosecuting former President Donald Trump.

Only two Republicans have said that they would support Greene’s move against Johnson, while Democrats have said that they would vote to bail out Johnson, meaning her resolution would certainly fail. But she said she would do it anyway to show that Johnson was effectively a Democrat.

It’s not clear if Greene wants a handshake from Johnson, some sort of written pledge, or what.

“Obviously, you can’t make things happen instantly, and we all are aware and understanding of that,” Greene said. “So now the ball is in his court and he’s supposed to be reaching out to us, hopefully soon.”

Johnson, for his part, said Tuesday that his talks with Greene and Massie are “not a negotiation,” and that he has similar meetings with members from all over the Republican conference.

And Johnson said the idea of reining in special counsels is