Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, was the subject of a scathing piece from the conservative Wall Street Journal‘s editorial board on Friday after she introduced a motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.
On Friday morning, the House voted 286-134 to pass a $1.2 trillion government funding bill, narrowly avoiding a partial shutdown of the federal government. Funding bills such as this have become subject of increasingly intense debate in the highly polarized modern political landscape, with further-right members of Congress in particular calling for shutdowns to be allowed to happen unless Democrats agree to heavy spending cuts or other significant compromises.
Last fall, Republicans successfully ousted Representative Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, from the speakership after he cooperated with Democrats to secure a stopgap funding bill and prevent a shutdown. After several tumultuous rounds of voting, Johnson, a Louisiana Republican largely unknown at that point, was elected to the office. However, his time in the role may now be on the line after Friday’s vote, with Greene filing a motion to vacate his office.
“We have to find a new Speaker of the House,” Greene said, decrying the funding bill as a “Democrat bill” and accusing Johnson of being in league with the rival party.
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In response to this motion, the Journal‘s editorial board, which is often viewed as a significant voice in mainstream conservatism, put Greene on blast, calling her “Mayhem Taylor Greene” and comparing her and her further-right colleagues to climate change protestors.
“Politics isn’t the art of the impossible, but Ms. Greene and her crew of vandals prefer to scream and throw soup at the walls, like those climate-change protesters who think their ludicrous gestures are accomplishing something,” the piece read. “They have no strategy for achieving the conservative victories they claim to want, beyond shutting down the government and shouting for the cameras that everyone else is a sellout.”
The piece noted Greene’s claim that the motion was more of a warning to Johnson, given that the House will be in recess for the next two weeks, but also decried the move for potentially imperiling military support for U.S. allies soon.
“When [the House] returns [from recess], Mr. Johnson will have to decide whether to take up an aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan,” the piece continued. “Ms. Greene is essentially ordering the Speaker to forsake American allies that need U.S. military help, or she’ll pull the trigger on her motion.”
Newsweek reached out to Greene’s office via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.