Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) engaged in some more saber-rattling against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast. Her comments were the latest in the burgeoning feud between her and the Speaker over foreign aid.
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The conversation focused on the debate over sending more aid to Ukraine as part of a package to assist Israel after it was attacked by Iran on Saturday. Bannon asked Greene about claims made by Speaker Johnson that he is concerned about “the Balkans falling and Poland falling in a third world war” and whether she has seen any proof that the situation could lead to this scenario.
Greene responded by saying that she and others have “never been shown anything, no evidence whatsoever that Vladimir Putin in Russia is planning to go marching across Europe.”
“I stood up at conference earlier this week, Steve, and I asked for that proof. I said, ‘Where is the proof? Has anyone in this room seen proof that this is what Putin is going to do?’ And no one could answer me. No one said a word, except one member of Congress came and told me, ‘Marjorie, there is no proof.’ And that is the reality. They never show proof. What they do is they pull men like Mike Johnson and others in a room, and they just tell them scary stories of, ‘Oh, if you don’t do this, if you don’t send this money over to Ukraine, if you do not take these votes and make this happen, people are going to die.’ Well, let me tell you something, Steve. People are dying every single day right here in America. And those are the people that should matter. And that’s what our actions in Congress should be doing to protect those people.”
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Bannon continued, confirming that Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), who has been supporting aid to Ukraine, could not show proof that Putin would start World War III. Greene replied, issuing a challenge to McCaul and Johnson to show proof that the Russian leader planned to go after Poland after taking over Ukraine. She vowed not only to lead the charge to oust Speaker Johnson and others after him who continue pushing this agenda.
“We want an America First economy,” Greene said. “From now on, Steve, we are going to demand it from our Republican leaders. I don’t care if the Speaker’s office becomes a revolving door. If that’s exactly what needs to happen, then let it be.”
Speaker Johnson has been playing a balancing act, attempting to satisfy the moderate and conservative wings of Republican leadership in Congress. The situation has become difficult enough for Johnson to seek the assistance of Democratic lawmakers to advance bills related to foreign aid to the House floor. The strategy he is employing involves having one bill for each country that could possibly receive U.S. aid.
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Amid all this brouhaha is the supposed threat to remove Johnson as Speaker of the House. However, there are valid reasons to believe that this effort will not be as effective as the move to strip former Speaker Kevin McCarthy of his position. RedState’s Streiff summed up the situation nicely:
I think a significant Rubicon has been crossed today. Three members of the House Rules Committee are threatening the Speaker with a motion to vacate. That motion isn’t going anywhere because, unlike with McCarthy, the Democrats will vote to support Johnson.
Still, this revolt by members admitted to the House’s sanctum sanctorum will not be forgotten and probably will not be forgiven.
Johnson was the architect of the deal that gave the Freedom Caucus three seats on the Rules Committee. After this fiasco, there is a better-than-even chance that Johnson will return to tradition and replace them with loyalists.
For the time being, it appears those who want to continue sending taxpayer money to other countries will get their way after this conflict has concluded.