Marjorie Taylor Greene, the prominent right-wing congresswoman from the United States, has announced plans to depose Mike Johnson, the House speaker, advancing the internal conflict within the Republican party that has reignited following Congress’s approval of an expansive Ukrainian aid package.
Ms Greene, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has repeatedly insinuated that she would initiate a vote to dismiss Mr Johnson from his position as speaker. However, she has only recently given a deadline for the motion, informing journalists that she will proceed with her plan in the coming week.
Standing outside the US Capitol building, Ms Greene said, “I believe every Congress member should take part in that vote and let the outcome will be what it will be.”
Despite Ms Greene’s efforts, it is predicted that Mr Johnson will retain his position due to the Democrats in the House of Representatives promising their support after his decision to present the Ukraine bill for a vote following many months of postponement. Nevertheless, Ms Greene’s action reveals the immense divide within the Republican party between the hardliners and those who are open to reaching accords with the Democrats.
Mr Johnson expressed his disagreement with his Republican colleague’s action, stating, “This motion is incorrect for the Republican Conference, incorrect for the institution, and incorrect for the country.”
Interestingly, Trump has not echoed Ms Greene’s demand to unseat Mr Johnson, and a sizeable number of his Republican supporters in Capitol Hill have also hesitated to join the campaign against the speaker. With a little over six months left until the upcoming election, several Republicans are striving to demonstrate a greater degree of unity to maintain their minutely thin majority in the House’s lower section.
Representative Greene, from the state of Georgia, reproached her Republican colleagues for partaking in what she characterised as the “uniparty” of combined governance with the Democrats. Waving a blue-and-yellow cap with the slogan ‘Make Ukraine Great Again,’ reminiscent of Trump’s traditional red-and-white ‘Make America Great Again’ cap, she asserted, “The uniparty is all about financing every single foreign war.”
This recent uproar concerning Mr Johnson’s future as the speaker comes half a year after the Republican legislators supported the Congressman from Louisiana for the role, following the unexpected compromise that resulted from the removal of Kevin McCarthy, the prior Republican speaker.
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024
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