Marjorie Taylor Greene’s stunt shows Republicans are in a death spiral

On Friday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene pulled off her most audacious stunt yet when she filed a motion to vacate to stage a no-confidence vote for Speaker Mike Johnson. The reason for filing that motion? Johnson did what he is supposed to do: pass spending bills to keep the government open.

The move went perfectly for Greene, who has shown little desire to legislate but an eagerness for attention. It turned out to be the perfect spectacle in Congress. Greene even brought her boyfriend, right-wing media provacateur Brian Glenn, along for the action. As soon as she exited the floor, reporters, including myself, swarmed her with questions — but she waited to speak until she descended the Capitol steps so she could have her moment in front of the cameras.

Greene and other hardline conservatives hate that, despite the fact Republicans control one half of one branch of the government, they did not get everything they want and get President Joe Biden to sign it. It’s an unrealistic desire, but the far-right side of the Republican Party doesn’t seem to care.

To be clear, there likely won’t actually be a motion to vacate. Representatives Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, both of whom voted to kick out Kevin McCarthy, told me they would be a “no” vote on Johnson, as of right now. Swing district Republicans would rather not take part in it. And even Representative Matt Gaetz told multiple reporters he did not support a motion to vacate. That makes sense, given his coup against McCarthy always allegedly had more to do with his personal vendetta against the speaker than any actual policy differences.

Conversely, as he went in for votes on Friday, Republican Representative Mike Gallagher had only