(Bloomberg) -- Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene took the first steps Friday to remove Mike Johnson as House speaker, threatening another potential GOP shake-up and more infighting ahead of the November elections.
She acted as the House approved a government funding package that angered hardline conservatives because it didn’t include their demands for deep domestic spending cuts and new border restrictions to stem the flow of migrants.
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It wasn’t immediately clear whether other Republicans would join Greene or even whether she would follow through on the threat by forcing a vote on his removal.
The Georgia lawmaker filed a “motion to vacate” against Johnson but did not activate it by speaking on the House floor. She could demand a vote on the motion at any point the House is in session, grounding all other business to a halt.
“We need a new speaker,” she told reporters outside the Capitol. But, she said, she wanted House business to continue for now. “I’m not doing this to throw the House to chaos.”
Another tumultuous leadership battle in the Republican-controlled House risks damaging the voters’ confidence in the party heading into November elections, said Maura Gillespie, a former press adviser for then-Speaker John Boehner.
“Stunning,” Gillespie said of the ouster threat. She said such chaos inevitably stokes concern about the party’s capacity to govern and causes voters to “wonder if these are people they want in charge.”
Moderate New York Republican Mike Lawler called Greene’s move “lunacy” and said it could cost the GOP the majority in the November election.
After a rump group used a similar tactic to overthrow then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, it took more than three weeks of bitter infighting to settle on Johnson as a successor.
The House is leaving for a two-week recess after passing a bill to fund the government until September 30.
Greene signaled an effort by the speaker to bring a Ukraine funding bill to a vote next month would trigger her to act on her motion.
Johnson spokesman Raj Shah said the speaker “always listens to the concerns of members, but is focused on governing.”
The motion to vacate is the same parliamentary process that was used to oust McCarthy. If activated, Johnson would have to call a vote on the motion within two legislative days.
Greene’s resolution to remove Johnson would require a simple majority of all House members voting and not voting “present” to succeed. If all Democrats voted to unseat the speaker, Greene would need just a handful of GOP colleagues to join them.
But some House Democrats have said they would be inclined to vote against the motion if Johnson would agree to hold a vote on the Senate-passed supplemental security spending package including funding for Ukraine and Israel, a move Johnson has so far refused.
In 2015, Mark Meadows, then a Republican House member, filed a motion to vacate John Boehner, but never pushed it to a floor vote. The then-speaker ultimately resigned under pressure.
(Updates with Gillespie comments, additional detail beginning with second paragraph)
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