Former President Donald Trump sent a very clear message on Friday when he held an "election integrity" press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) at Mar-a-Lago: the speaker has Trump's confidence. It was in some ways a jab at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has led the push in recent weeks to call for a motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership.
Greene is undaunted by Trump's support for Johnson, however — and responded with a post to social media shortly after, doubling down on her position.
"I support President Trump and am working as hard as possible to help him win in November and winning a Republican House and Senate majority," wrote the far-right lawmaker. "But I do not support Speaker Johnson. He funded the DOJ, FBI, and today voted against warrant requirements and FOR FISA!!"
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The latter grievance comes after days of confused haggling in which Trump himself appeared to demand the rollback of post-9/11 security programs under the false belief they were used to spy on his campaign.
Greene's threat to call a vote to vacate the chair is set against the context that Johnson himself came to power as a result of the previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy, being ousted from power by the exact same procedure. He had agreed to a rule change letting any individual House member call such a vote as a condition of getting the far-right Freedom Caucus on board with his speakership in the first place, only for it to break down when Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took him out as part of a personal vendetta.
The process of replacing McCarthy took weeks of chaos, with several other members of House leadership stepping up and then failing to get the votes, before Johnson, a hardline backbencher with ties to the Christian nationalist movement, was finally selected.
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