When Rep. Matt Gaetz decided in the fall that it was time to try to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the process unfolded rather quickly. On Monday, Oct. 2, the Florida Republican took the procedural step, filing what’s known as a motion to vacate the chair. On Tuesday, Oct. 3 — less than 24 hours after the motion was filed — McCarthy lost his gavel.
Months later, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is eager to bring down McCarthy’s successor, though the process is proving to be vastly different.
It was three weeks ago today when the right-wing Georgian filed her own motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, though unlike Gaetz’s effort, the congresswoman did not trigger any votes. Instead, Greene effectively initiated an uncertain process and got to work looking for allies.
So far, she hasn’t found any. In fact, while Johnson has plenty of intraparty critics, a grand total of zero GOP members have publicly endorsed Greene’s effort, and it’s worth appreciating why.
Part of the problem for Greene is that she likely hoped for some assistance from her pal at Mar-a-Lago, and that help has not materialized. In fact, the opposite is true: Donald Trump is actually cozying up to Johnson as members of the former president’s team make clear that they have no use for the effort to strip the speaker of his gavel. Politico reported this week:
Trump world isn’t happy with Greene’s threat to throw the House GOP into chaos once again. There’s a fear that an election-year speakership battle will undercut the party’s goals of keeping the House and flipping the White House and Senate. “100 percent distraction. Unwanted. And just stupid,” one Trump insider told Playbook last night.
The report quoted another person close with Trump who added that the former president’s operation has grown weary of the constant motion-to-vacate threats. “It’s no way to run a party,” the source said.
But just as important is the fact that no one in the House Republican…
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