Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to boot Speaker Johnson if he capitulates on border fight

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday announced that she had told House Speaker Mike Johnson during a Thursday meeting that she would move to remove him from leadership if he agreed to a border security deal trading Ukraine funding for border security reforms that did not meet with her approval.

Since rising to his position, Johnson has struggled to consolidate support in the Republican conference and on Sunday announced a topline spending agreement with Democrats that the conservative House Freedom Caucus deemed a "total failure."

"In my meeting with him yesterday, and many other members of Congress, I let Speaker Johnson know that in no way shape and form will I support any type of CR," she said on the Real America's Voice Network's "War Room" program. "We aren't continuing Nancy's budget. Nancy Pelosi's budget and that if he moves forward with a separate deal trading our border security weakening H.R. 2 in exchange for $60 billion to Ukraine, I told him yesterday in his office that I would vacate the chair."

"That that is absolutely unacceptable and we actually have the power of the purse. We're the ones that are in control and we need to control the negotiations. I reiterated those same points this morning so the ball is in his court," she added.

"Vacate the chair" refers to the formal process for removing a House Speaker. House conservatives led by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz in October of last year made a similar move to remove then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his leadership position after he passed a funding compromise with the Democrats.

H.R. 2 is a House-passed border security package that some Republicans have sought to pair with the Biden administration's request for more than $100 billion to support U.S. allies abroad.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says she told Speaker Mike Johnson she would motion to “vacate the chair” if he does not comply with her demands. pic.twitter.com/av8CNzAocE

— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) January 12, 2024

Johnson, for his part, has remained adamant that he seeks to cut spending and secure the border.

"We want to get the border closed and secured, first, and we want to make sure that we reduce non-defense discretionary spending," Johnson said earlier this month. "The point is the longer we wait, the longer we delay the closure and security of the border, the greater the crisis and the problem."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.