DailyMail.com
Firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has plunged the Capitol into chaos yet again by launching a bid to oust Speaker Mike Johnson.
The Georgia lawmaker filed a motion to vacate the chair, the move used to kick Kevin McCarthy out, in fury over the $1.2 trillion bill to keep the government funded.
Greene and conservatives allies were furious the 1,000 page package was released in the middle of the night, with no time to read it before the vote.
After filing the motion on the floor, Greene told reporters that the action serves a warning to Speaker Johnson – and a vote on it will not come up immediately.
‘I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and to throw the House in chaos,’ she said.
‘But this is basically a warning and it’s time for us to go through the process, take our time and find a new speaker of the House that will stand with Republicans and our Republican majority instead of standing with the Democrats.’
‘Johnson has betrayed that by passing three CRs and then forcing us to pass or to vote on a two-part omnibus, the second one being today,’ Greene added.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz launched a motion that ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October over his decision to put a CR, or continuing resolution, on the House floor.
The CR continued government funding at 2023 levels set under Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the short-term to buy more time to hash out 2024 funding.
Four continuing resolutions later, the government is now funded until the end of this fiscal year – September 30.
She made the dramatic move just as the House voted to pass the bill and send it to the Senate before key government agencies run out of money at midnight on Saturday.
Conservatives in the House were fighting mad that Johnson released the package to keep the government funded in the middle of the night and gave them one day to read on it before a vote.
With the House GOP’s razor-thin majority, only two Republicans would need to support a motion to vacate for it to pass if all Democrats voted for it, like they did last time.
But some have signaled they might vote to save Johnson, particularly if he agrees to put Ukraine aid on the floor. Newly sworn in Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., told reporters he would vote to back Johnson.
It’s not clear which, if any, Republicans would join Greene’s bid to oust Johnson.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who opposed the spending bill and voted to oust Speaker McCarthy, told DailyMail.com he won’t be voting for a motion to vacate Johnson.
‘That’s just gonna hand the gavel over to Hakeem Jeffries if we do that,’ he said.
Rep. Ralph Norman, a right-wing Freedom Caucus member from South Carolina, said ‘we’ll see’ when asked if he’d support it.
The 1,000 page spending deal was the result of long negotiations between Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and White House officials.
Hardliners slammed the bill for having $2 billion in earmarks – funding for lawmaker’s pet projects in their home districts – saying they are fiscally irresponsible.