Marjorie Taylor Greene escalates pressure on Speaker Johnson as ouster threat looms

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia issued a searing indictment of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership in a new letter sent to her Republican colleagues on Tuesday, according to a copy shared with CNN, in a significant escalation of her rhetoric as she tries to build support for potentially ousting Johnson.

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia issued a searing indictment of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership in a new letter sent to her Republican colleagues on Tuesday, according to a copy shared with CNN, in a significant escalation of her rhetoric as she tries to build support for potentially ousting Johnson. While Greene does not indicate if or when she plans to force a floor vote on Johnson’s removal, the scathing rebuke marks her first direct pitch to the House GOP conference to join her push and indicates she is not backing down from her threat as lawmakers return to Washington following a two-week recess. For his part, Johnson has tried to downplay the threat and attempted to ease tensions. “I respect Marjorie. She will always have an open door to the speaker’s office. We do have honest differences on strategy sometimes but share the same conservative beliefs,” the Louisiana Republican told CNN in a statement last week. While the pair had said they would connect last week, it did not happen, a source familiar told CNN. CNN has reached out to Johnson’s office for comment. In the letter, Greene laid out a detailed case against the speaker, accusing Johnson of failing to deliver on promises he ran on and breaking legislative procedural rules. She even blamed him for jeopardizing the House Republican majority by not doing more to prevent some retiring GOP members from leaving Congress early.