Being the Speaker of the House can be a major burden. You have to make tough calls, and not everyone likes it.
And Mike Johnson is furious after one Republican unloaded on him.
Republicans have had a leadership problem for years. It feels as if the party is always run by RINOs.
When Kevin McCarthy was ousted as the Speaker of the House and Mike Johnson eventually took over, some thought he would clean house and play hard ball with Democrats.
But some in D.C. aren’t happy with how much he’s willing to compromise.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene compared House Speaker Mike Johnson to Nancy Pelosi, expressing her dissatisfaction with how he handled the federal funding measure and his plans to push further Ukraine aid.
“People are fed up with Republicans that say one thing and turn around and literally join the flock and just continue the same old crap everybody’s tired of. And here, Mike Johnson, he’s literally turned into Mitch McConnell’s twin and worse. He’s a Democrat,” Ms. Greene, a Georgia Republican, told CNN over the phone.
“There’s not even any daylight between him and [former Democratic House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi at this point,” she said.
Ms. Greene has been on a warpath against Mr. Johnson since he passed a $1.2 trillion spending measure last month with the support of the majority of Democrats. As the law was being passed, she filed a move to vacate the chair, removing Mr. Johnson as speaker.
Ms. Greene stated that Mr. Johnson was chosen to the position because of his conservative values, but now voters are “furious that our so-called Christian conservative, Republican Speaker of the House did this to them.”
Mr. Johnson is acting like a moderate, she added, and removing him from the job and replacing him with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries would make no difference.
“We cannot get anyone more moderate than Mike Johnson,” Ms. Greene said.
“I would argue Mike Johnson, we can’t get any further left than Mike Johnson. I think the Democrats might be happier with him than they are with Hakeem Jeffries.”
In terms of Ukraine, Mr. Johnson has been exploring the possibility of using the REPO Act, a bipartisan law that would transfer seized Russian assets to Ukraine.
There are also suggestions to convert the aid into a loan for Ukraine, which Ms. Greene described as “the biggest bunch of heaping, steaming pile of bull—.”
She has not yet moved to call for a vote to remove Mr. Johnson from his position, but it might happen soon if the two continue to argue. Her conservative colleagues have cautioned her not to do it, but she stays undeterred.
Mr. Johnson has acknowledged his disputes with Ms. Greene, but he has maintained his decision to take up the Ukraine aid bill.
It’s a difficult call here. Should Republicans put on a phony face of unity for the sake of the 2024 election? Should we accept compromises and legislation that run contrary to our interests?
Unfortunately, kowtowing to the Left in fear of possible repercussions is how the Republican Party got in such a sore state to begin with.
Doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result is insanity.
Stay tuned to the Conservative Column.
