Mike Johnson Under Threat as Republicans Turn on Him

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing pressure from his own party over support of a $1.2 trillion spending bill, with one GOP congressman also backing a Democrat petition to force through foreign aid funding.

Outgoing Colorado congressman Ken Buck, who will leave office Friday, became the first Republican lawmaker to sign House Democrats’ discharge petition that aims to bypass Johnson as he refuses to allow a vote in the lower chamber a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan—which has already been passed by the Senate.

Elsewhere, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene lashed out against Johnson with the House is set to vote on a $1.2 trillion federal spending bill that will avert a government shutdown, including suggesting she is “done” with the House speaker.

Johnson has been in a perilous position as House speaker ever since he replaced his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted in a historic motion to vacate last October. Due to the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House, if a single lawmaker was to file another motion to vacate after Buck leaves office, Johnson would also be removed from the role if just three GOP lawmakers and all House Democrats supported the motion in a simple majority vote.

In one of his final acts as a congressman, Buck became the first GOP House member to sign the Democrats’ discharge petition on Thursday to force a vote on the Senate’s $95 billion package.

The petition currently stands at 188 signatures, needing 218 to pass. However, no other Republican beyond Buck has shown support for it, with progressive Democrats saying they won’t sign it over the bill’s proposed military aid to Israel amid its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Also on Thursday, congressional leaders unveiled its spending package which will provide funding for the remaining six annual federal spending bills, which needs to pass to avoid a government shutdown.

In a statement, Johnson said the spending bill would move the Department of Homeland Security’s “operations toward enforcing our border and immigration laws,” as well as increase the number of border patrol agents and cut funding to NGOs that “incentivize illegal immigration.”

In a post in X, formerly Twitter, Greene suggested the bill does not go far enough in trying to secure the border, while also describing the GOP’s House majority of being a “complete failure.”

“We have the power of the purse, which means we can control what the entire government does. Tomorrow Speaker Johnson is funding the government that has created this invasion. I’m voting NO,” Greene wrote.

“We need a Speaker of the House who will fight to secure America’s border at all cost! Not one that passes a trillion dollar Democrat wish list that continues the border invasion, funds the weaponized government, and breaks our own conference rules. I’m done with this one.”

Johnson’s office has been contacted for comment via email.

McCarthy was ousted as House Speaker last October when eight Republican lawmakers supported Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s motion to vacate after McCarthy negotiated with Democrats to push through a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.

McCarthy himself changed congressional rules so that just one lawmaker needed to call a motion to vacate for it to be decided in a House vote. The rule is still in place, meaning Johnson could face the same fate if some hardline factions within the GOP are not happy with his performance.

Speaking on Capitol Hill, Greene appeared to reference the eight Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy while discussing her opposition to the spending bill.

“I’m angry about it. I think it’s a complete failure,” Greene told Newsweek. “And it’s a total departure from where we started this Congress.”

When asked if there were plans to “punish” Johnson over supporting the bill, Greene said: “The eight that were so self-righteous and, you know, worked up about rules,” Greene said. “Those are the ones you should be asking.”

The hardline House Freedom Caucus also voiced opposition to what they described as a “Johnson-Schumer-Biden” bill in a statement.

“This 1,000-plus page spending bill was presented to members less than 36 hours before the vote, breaking the House Rule that requires members to have 72 hours to review major legislation,” the statement read.

“It spends $5.5 Million per word, fully funds and continues the Biden border crisis, and it is loaded with radioactive ‘woke’ earmarks—all of which is owned by anyone voting for this bill.”