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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 with the effort, while 196 GOP members rejected it. Among Democrats, 163 members of the House minority joined with Republicans to scuttle the scheme; 32 voted to advance it; and 7 Democrats voted “present.”
What happens now? When it comes to the congressional process, nothing. Greene took her best shot; she failed spectacularly; and lawmakers will now go back to their previously scheduled plans. The Georgian could theoretically try again at some point, but it’s unlikely that a second attempt would be any more successful than the first.
But that’s not to say this gambit was inconsequential. On the contrary, when assessing what Greene has to show for her efforts, it’s important to realize that she ended up with less than nothing: The radical congresswoman is much worse off than she was before. As The Washington Post reported overnight:
They heckled her and shouted boos as she rose to speak, and some hissed at her — and those were the voices from the same side of the aisle as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Greene tried to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from leadership on Wednesday, but Republicans overwhelmingly opposed her bid. And that effort proved to be the final straw for many of her GOP colleagues who have expressed a growing distaste for her antics during her three years in Congress. It even led to a rare admonishment by one of her most ardent supporters — former president Donald Trump.
Taking stock, Greene not only picked a dramatic fight without a coherent strategy to succeed, she did so in a way that alienated her ostensible allies. What’s more, the congresswoman settled on a series of rather specific demands she expected GOP leaders to meet but ended up receiving exactly zero concessions from Johnson and his team.
To be sure, the Republican extremist wasn’t exactly a respected figure on Capitol Hill before, but as the dust settles on the latest example of GOP chaos, Greene appears weaker, more isolated and more feeble.