In the United States, a crisis surrounding the motion to remove the speaker of the House of Representatives may be seeing a turning point, as Marjorie Taylor Greene, who proposed the motion, reportedly met with House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday afternoon to discuss the matter.
According to The Hill, two sources revealed that Greene, a Republican representative from Georgia, initiated the conversation with Johnson as she vowed to push for a mandatory vote on the motion to remove the speaker. The meeting was scheduled for 3:30 PM Eastern Time on Monday.
Sources also told ABC News that this would be a one-on-one private meeting.
Greene announced last week that she would advance the mandatory vote process this week after shelving the motion to remove for over a month.
It is still unclear when Greene plans to trigger the voting process as she has not announced a specific time.
Under the current rules of the House Republican caucus, the initial motion to remove proposed by Greene may not necessarily be brought to a vote, but if she presents it as a “privileged resolution,” Republican House leadership must take action within two legislative days to deliberate and hold a full-house vote.
As long as one Republican member submits such a motion, a full-house vote must be held, and it only requires a simple majority of 218 votes to pass.
Greene is displeased with Johnson’s leadership in the House for passing certain bills that do not align with the conservative agenda, thus pushing for the removal of the Republican speaker. However, her efforts are unlikely to succeed as more conservative Republicans are showing reluctance to support the motion to remove despite their disappointment with the speaker’s recent legislative actions. Additionally, House Democratic leadership has indicated that if a vote is held on removing the speaker, Democrats will use their votes to help Johnson retain his position.
Currently, only two Republicans – Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona – have publicly expressed support for Greene’s motion to remove the speaker.
In the face of Greene’s threat of removal, Johnson remains unfazed and criticizes the approach as misguided.
The speaker stated on the SiriusXM show “The Laura Coates Show” last Friday, “I haven’t given much thought to the motion for removal. I believe this motion is wrong for the Republican Caucus, wrong for this institution, and wrong for this country. We are in a very serious time, and the American people deserve and should have a Congress that functions normally, I believe that is the most critical factor.”