John Jefferson
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who unsuccessfully sought to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from the speakership last year, said that she will vote on Friday for Johnson to retain the gavel.
Last year, the congresswoman lambasted Johnson as “the Uniparty Speaker,” asserting that he “is exactly what is wrong with the Republican establishment” and had “done nothing for conservatives and given everything to Joe Biden and Democrats.”
But she now plans to vote on Friday for Johnson to remain in the leadership post.
“Let’s put aside our pride, let’s put aside our egos, and let’s put aside the infighting,” she said in a video, adding that it is time for the GOP to join together and “do whatever it takes to make sure that we deliver the mandate that the American people told us to do.”
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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who supported the effort to oust Johnson last year, has declared that he will not support the speaker’s bid to remain in the role.
“You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers, I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow,” Massie declared during an appearance on “The Matt Gaetz Show.”
President-elect Donald Trump endorsed Johnson for the job earlier this week.
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“Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement,” Trump declared in a Truth Social post.
Johnson’s path to victory is precarious, and could be derailed if another Republican opts to join Massie in opposing Johnson’s bid.
Fox News Senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has explained, “The winning candidate must secure an outright majority of all Members voting for a candidate by name.”
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Pergram described a possible scenario in which just two Republicans could prevent Johnson from reaching the threshold necessary to win.
“So let’s say there are 434 members and all vote for someone by name. The magic number is 218. If Johnson gets the votes of all 219 Republicans, he wins. If Johnson gets 218 votes, he also wins. But 217? No dice,” Pergram noted.
During an interview on Fox Business’ “Kudlow,” Johnson indicated that he believes he’ll win the gavel in the first round of voting and is “hopeful for that.”
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