House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Thursday he extended an olive branch to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after her motion to remove him was soundly defeated.
The House voted 359-43 on Wednesday to table Greene's motion to vacate, with Greene among just 11 Republicans to vote against tabling her motion. Among the Democrats to vote to keep Johnson as Speaker were Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.
Johnson said on Fox News that he told Greene he won't hold a grudge.
"I'm trying to approach this as a Christian," Johnson said. "I don't hold grudges. I've got to work with everybody. And I told her last night before we left the floor, let's move on, Marjorie. I'm OK with this. Let's move on."
It was the second time in less than a year that a Republican House speaker faced a motion to vacate. Johnson's predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted in October after a similar motion made by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and seven other Republicans. Greene was not part of that coalition and Gaetz voted Wednesday in favor of tabling her motion.
"It was an overwhelming landslide outcome," Johnson said. "The message was sent. We have serious work to do, y'all. There are two competing visions for the country. We are fighting to save America and preserve its founding principles to get Donald Trump back at the White House and to win the majority in the Senate and the House for the Republican Party so we can fix all of these extreme challenges. We have no time for nonsense here. We have to get the job done."
Newsmax reached out to Greene for comment. In an appearance on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast, it didn't appear Greene had buried the hatchet.
"You can talk about the special interests controlling Washington, D.C., but the vote yesterday proved that Mike Johnson is completely bought and paid for by the Democrats," Greene said in a video of her appearance posted on X. "Nancy Pelosi, Jerry Nadler, the two Democrats that led the effort to impeach President Trump twice, voted to save Mike Johnson, along with Hakeem Jeffries and the entire Democrat leadership team. But so did Republicans, and that shows you right there that we have a lot of work to do in our GOP conference.
"If we're going to be the Republican majority that holds the House under President Trump, then our Republican majority needs to be whipped into shape because yesterday they completely capitulated to Democrat control of the House of Representatives, even though we have solid control with Republican votes. … Democrats can't take control of the House. Hakeem Jeffries cannot become Speaker of the House because we have the votes, and we hold the majority. But Hakeem Jeffries is indeed Speaker today because Democrats saved Mike Johnson."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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