Greene plans to start the clock on vote to depose Johnson next week

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Wednesday she will officially trigger the clock to hold a referendum on Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership next week — an effort that now seems doomed.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is backing the Georgia firebrand's effort, said they will bring up the motion to vacate resolution as privileged, which could then force a House vote on Johnson remaining speaker within two legislative days. It would be the second attempt to depose a speaker within seven months.

"And so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate. Absolutely. I’m calling it. 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, having supported a Republican speaker, a Christian conservative. I think that'll play well," Greene said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

Greene didn’t immediately specify what day she will move to force a vote, with the House set to leave town on Wednesday and return on Monday. But Republican leadership is expected to try to move to quickly dispense with her proposal to fire the speaker as soon as she pushes it to the floor, three Republicans familiar with the plans told POLITICO.

Republicans had been bracing for Greene to trigger the speaker-deposing vote as soon as Wednesday. But Greene and Massie, who spoke alongside her at Wednesday's press conference, are hoping the extra time will build pressure not only on their fellow GOP colleagues, but also on Johnson, who they want to resign.

“Everybody needs the weekend to prepare. I am not irresponsible. I care about my conference,” Greene said.

Massie added that Johnson “deserves a weekend to think about it. He should resign.”

Johnson has given no indication that he is preparing to, or has considered, resigning. Unlike the effort against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Greene's motion already seems certain to fail, as House Democratic leaders announced Tuesday that they would step in to save Johnson.

“I have no reaction. The statement that we issued yesterday speaks for itself," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday.

The GOP leader, during an interview with NewsNation, downplayed Greene’s effort — saying "bless her heart" when the interviewer brought up the Georgia lawmaker. Asked if he believed Greene was a serious lawmaker, he replied: “I don't think she is proving to be.”

Greene, asked about his comments at Wednesday’s press conference, brushed off the criticism.

“I’m not into personal attacks. That’s not why I’m doing this,” she said. “This has nothing to do with Mike Johnson as a person. But this is about his job performance.”

Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.