Rep. Greene and Speaker Johnson meet for a second day as possible vote on his ouster simmers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Embattled Speaker Mike Johnson worked to position himself as in control Tuesday, insisting he’s not negotiating with far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as they prepared to meet again at the Capitol and she weighed whether to proceed with a vote on his ouster.

It was the second day Johnson was meeting privately with Greene, a top ally of Donald Trump, and she outlined four demands — including no more funding for Ukraine as it fights Russia and an end to the Justice Department special counsel’s legal cases against the indicted former president.

Greene is threatening to call a vote on her motion to vacate the speaker from office, despite objections from Trump himself and fellow Republicans who want to end the chaos on Capitol Hill. Another hardline congressman, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, backs her effort and has joined in the meetings.

Greene said she had “high expectations” the speaker will deliver.

“This is what people all over the country are screaming for,” Greene said Tuesday on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. “They want to see this vote.”

The political risks are high for both the speaker, who is under criticism for relying on promised Democratic support to save his job, and the congresswoman, who could become sidelined if few other Republicans join her efforts against Johnson.

Together Johnson, R-La., and Greene, R-Ga., appear to be working on a settlement that would provide a political off-ramp to the standoff and benefit them both by preventing another messy spectacle over the speaker’s gavel.

“It’s not a negotiation,” Johnson said Tuesday at the Capitol.

Noting he has passed six months on the job, which Johnson won after Republicans ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the speaker said