House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday on Fox News that he respects the “message” from Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate his position, however he assured that Democrats won’t gain control of the House.
Johnson appeared on “Hannity” to discuss Greene’s filing against the Speaker on March 22 over the $1.2 trillion consolidated spending bill that ended up being passed. For the motion to roll into a vote from members, which would require action within two legislative days, Greene would need to be recognized.
As Greene received a mixed response to her action, some Republicans have worried about Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries taking control due to the razor-slim majority the GOP holds within the House. Fox host Sean Hannity questioned Johnson if it would be possible for Jeffries to be voted in by members, depending on the approval of the action. (RELATED: Rep. MTG Files Motion To Remove Mike Johnson As Speaker Of The House)
“Look, that’s a risk, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Marjorie filed a motion to vacate not in a privileged form, which means it doesn’t come up automatically. She’s trying to send a message and I respect the message. I share, again, her frustration about the process, but the way for us to fix that is to grow the House majority. And the way to do that is to stand united together on the agenda going forward,” Johnson stated.
“So we’re going to have everybody working together. We’ll work on consensus and keep this team. Marjorie knows how high the stakes are for the country – we all do. That’s why it’s never been more important for us to stand together and I think we will. I think all our colleagues understand that. We’re going to get through this. Hakeem is not going to be the Speaker and we’ll take care of business. We’ll do it for the American people.”
Following her motion to vacate, Greene called out Johnson’s support of the spending bill, claiming during a Fox News interview that Johnson had broken the “72-hour rule,” allowing Congress 72 hours to read the legislation they would be voting on, as well as approving a Democrat “wish list.” Greene stated that the bill did not include GOP-discussed measures such as HR2 and the Laken Riley Act, but instead reportedly opted to fund “full term abortion clinics” and “trans woke policies” targeting children.