Speaker Johnson slams Georgia Rep. Greene: “She fails to notice… we have been fighting on the border”

In late March, Georgia’s Republican Representative, Marjorie Taylor Greene, took action against House Speaker Mike Johnson by filing a motion to vacate his position. This occurred as the House approved a large spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown. Although the bill ultimately passed with bipartisan support, it received more Democratic than Republican votes, it frustrated many conservative members. “Today, I filed a motion to vacate after Speaker Johnson has betrayed our conference and broken our rules,” Greene then told reporters on the steps of the Capitol.

Top critic of Johnson

Since he became Speaker in October, Greene has emerged as a top critic of Johnson. She stated that her motion to vacate was not meant to immediately initiate a vote to remove him, describing it as “basically a warning.” However, she mentioned the possibility of pushing for a vote to challenge his leadership in the future. As a member of the House’s far-right faction, Greene’s actions have added to the ongoing tensions and uncertainty within the Republican Party. In the past few months, the party has been notably split into factions of staunch conservatives and moderates.

A problem for Speaker Johnson

With a very narrow majority, Speaker Johnson faces significant challenges in his role, having little margin for error as he tries to balance the different demands within his party. The recent motion filed by Greene shows that problems among Republican members in the House should be taken seriously. In an effort to show support and unity, Speaker Johnson met with Trump late last week in Florida, where they talked about the recent events in the House and plans for the upcoming period.

Trump backs Johnson

Speaking to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, Johnson said that Trump fully supports his decisions so far. “I spent hours with the president on Friday. He and I talked frequently…. He’s 100% with me, and he said, ‘We’ll get this job done,'” Johnson said. “What Marjorie’s done with a motion to vacate is not helpful for our party, for our mission to save the country,” he continued. “Because if we don’t grow the House majority, keep the House majority, win the Senate, and win back the White House for President Trump, we are going to lose the Republic.”

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Addressing the most important issues

Johnson interview on Fox News came two days after meeting Trump in Florida. On Friday, Trump and Johnson held a press conference after the meeting at Mar-a-Lago where the pair addressed a slew of pressing issues facing the nation today. Johnson on Sunday said that this year’s election will be the “most important” of everyone’s lifetime, pointing to a handful of key issues repeatedly highlighted by Republicans – open borders, out-of-control spending, weakness on the world stage, the weaponization of government and the burdensome cost of living.

Securing the border a problem for Greene

Previously, Representative Greene from Georgia criticized Johnson in multiple occasions for not adequately addressing border security, despite his promises to. Greene pointed out that Johnson had vowed Republicans would not approve any government funding bills until the border issues were fully addressed to stop illegal immigration. Yet, Republicans passed a bill last week to prevent partial government shutdown.

Read also: Newsom responds brutally after Speaker Johnson blames California policies for out-of-hand immigration

Johnson’s brutal response

On Sunday, Johnson said to Fox News that Greene “fails to notice” that House Republicans have been fighting on the border issue.

“We fight on it every day. We passed our comprehensive border security package, H.R. 2, at the very beginning of this Congress. It’s been sitting on Chuck Schumer’s desk. We passed all the resolutions. We passed these acts out of the House, and they get stopped in the Senate,” he said.

Unity in the focus

All the while, Johnson insists keeping the party united should remain a priority for Republicans to ensure a victory in November.

Read also: Johnson angry because Biden now allegedly plans to take action on immigration, as the GOP has always wanted

“Our party needs to stay united. We need to go out and tell the American people how we’ll be different, not just what we’re against, but what we’re for, what our agenda is going to be and how we’re going to turn this country around. I’m absolutely bullish on the election cycle. I think we’re going to do that,” he added.