Marjorie Taylor Greene to face Johnson as she moves forward with a motion to vacate

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is set to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for a one-on-one meeting as the Georgia Republican prepares to activate her motion to vacate in an effort to strip the Republican leader of the speaker’s gavel. 

Greene will meet with Johnson at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, just hours before the House meets for its first votes of the week. It’s not entirely clear what will be discussed, but it was Greene who requested the meeting, according to a source familiar. 

The meeting comes as Greene is poised to notice her motion to vacate as early as Monday evening, which would bring the motion to the floor for a vote sometime in the next two days. Greene filed the motion over a month ago, holding it over Johnson’s head as he plotted a path forward on foreign aid and other key pieces of legislation. 

“It was a warning to stop serving the Democrats and support our Republican Conference and support our agenda,” Greene said last week. “And he didn’t do it.”

Greene will move forward with the threat even as it seems destined to fail, with Democratic leadership vowing to oppose the motion should it be brought to the floor. Several Republican lawmakers have also rejected the proposal, likely making the motion dead on arrival. 

Still, Greene has refused to back down, claiming that even if the vote fails, it will put her colleagues on the record on where they stand regarding Johnson’s leadership. 

“[Do] members of Congress support that unity party? Is this what they support?” Greene said. “I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may.”

“I can’t wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican speaker and have to go home to their primaries and have to run for Congress again,” Greene added.

Democrats have pushed back on suggestions that a table to motion would indicate support for Johnson’s speakership, instead posing it as a way to avoid another leaderless period in the lower chamber.

“None of the discussion that we had in caucus was about saving Mike Johnson. The underlying motion debate was not discussed. The motion to table was, and there is a distinction there,” Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said on Tuesday. “We want to turn the page and focus on the pressing issues that everyday Americans care about. And spending time on this just doesn’t make sense to us.”

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The vote could also put Greene at odds with former President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress, as the former president has come out in support of Johnson’s leadership. However, Greene has rejected suggestions she is defying Trump’s wishes, arguing she is the former president’s strongest supporter on Capitol Hill.

It’s not clear when the motion to vacate will be brought to the floor. If Greene notices the measure on Monday evening, GOP leaders can schedule a vote as early as Tuesday.