As 2024 got underway, amidst chatter that there were “knives out” for House Speaker Mike Johnson among members of his own party, Republicans such as Rep. Chip Roy of Texas floated the possibility of targeting the Louisianan with a motion to vacate the chair. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene acknowledged the intraparty talk — but rejected it.
“I would say that Chip Roy haphazardly throwing in a motion to vacate is probably about the dumbest thing that could happen,” the Georgian told The Hill exactly four months today, “because I think the last motion to vacate was pretty stupid, and has thrown our conference into utter chaos.” The right-wing congresswoman added, “I’m kind of sick of the chaos.”
Soon after, Greene changed her mind, went in the opposite direction and launched a crusade to bring down her own party’s House speaker. In hindsight, she probably should’ve stuck to her original instinct. NBC News reported:
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his allies beat back a dramatic effort by far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust him from power Wednesday, ending — for now — months of threats against his speakership. The vote to “table” or kill Greene’s motion to vacate the speaker’s chair was 359-43.
The last time the House voted on such an effort was in October, when eight Republicans turned against then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. They were joined by House Democrats, and the result was a narrow 216-210 vote.
Going into this new showdown, everyone on both sides of the aisle knew that Greene’s effort wouldn’t be nearly as close, and it wasn’t. A total of 11 House Republicans, including Greene, voted to proceed