Mike Johnson Responds To Marjorie Taylor Greene's Ouster Threat

WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) offered a detailed rebuttal Wednesday to the case for taking his gavel away.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has threatened to force a vote of no confidence in Johnson’s speakership because he has avoided government shutdowns by allowing the House to vote on funding bills that passed with Democratic votes.

During a press conference, Johnson told reporters that shutting down the government would cause “chaos” in Congress and exacerbate some of the same real-world problems Republicans have said are entirely President Joe Biden’s fault.

He went on to list some of the issues that could happen in an extended government shutdown, including people’s flights getting canceled, as well as Border Patrol agents, Transportation Security Administration agents and U.S. troops not getting paid.

“We can’t have large sections of the border being totally unpatrolled,” Johnson said. “Some of them are right now. We can’t not pay Border Patrol agents.”

It was Johnson’s most forceful response to Greene and the other Republicans who’ve faulted him for not driving a harder bargain with Democrats, who control the Senate and the White House and are equal partners in the legislative process. Greene and some of her colleagues think Democrats should have less input on lawmaking.

Johnson said he considered Greene a friend, that they don’t disagree “on any matter of philosophy” and that they’re both conservatives. Where they do disagree, however, Johnson suggested, is on “reality.”

“Here’s the reality that we have to remind everybody ― and you all know in the room because you’re here every day, but some people back home don’t realize ― we have the smallest majority in U.S. history,” he said.

“And