Ahead of her meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shared her list of demands for the speaker amid her push to oust him from the House’s top job.
Greene’s four requests — which she said were “simple and easy for Mike Johnson to follow” in a post on X — include a return to the “Hastert Rule,” which means no legislation is brought to a vote without the support of the majority of the majority party; no more funding for Ukraine; defund the special counsel’s probe into former President Donald Trump; and avoid a government shutdown before the election by passing a continuing resolution to automatically enact a 1% spending cut.
“These are not unreasonable requests,” Greene said of her demands as she headed in to her Tuesday meeting with Johnson. “These are the right things to do for our conference, and our Republican speaker — who rammed through the Democrat agenda — should be able to get it done since we are a Republican-controlled Congress.”
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Johnson and Green are set to meet for a second time on Tuesday afternoon after Johnson said he had a “a lengthy, constructive meeting” with both Greene and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie on Monday. The meeting, which lasted nearly two hours, came as Greene has said she will force a vote to remove Johnson from the leadership post this week.
Johnson said his series of meetings with Greene and Massie are “not a negotiation.”
“It’s not a negotiation at all. What we’re trying to do and what my job is, is to every day improve processes, procedures, our policy preferences, or legislation and make sure that we can build the right consensus to get everybody together,” Johnson said at the weekly GOP news conference on Tuesday.
Asked if he would defund the special counsel’s probe into Trump, as Greene requested, Johnson did not rule it out.
“We’re looking very intently at it because I think the problem has reached a crescendo,” Johnson said.
MORE: In scathing letter, GOP’s Marjorie Taylor Greene slams Johnson with speakership under threat
For the first time publicly, Johnson said he intends to remain the leader of the House Republican Conference in the future.
“I intend to lead this conference in the future, and the most important thing we have to do right now is govern the country well, show the American people that we are — and that’s what we have been doing,” Johnson said.
Asked by ABC News on Monday if she plans to move forward with a motion to vacate, Greene said she will “have more information” after the meeting on Tuesday.
The Georgia congresswoman said last week she was moving ahead with her ouster effort despite pushback from many Republicans and a statement from Democrats that they would step in to help save Johnson. Trump has also weighed in on Greene’s move to oust Johnson.
Trump spoke privately to Greene over the weekend and urged her to drop her push to oust Johnson, a source close to the president confirmed to ABC News. During their discussion, Trump told Greene that the party needs to be unified, according to the source.
The former president’s team has mulled over how best to show support for Johnson. Trump brought Johnson on stage at the RNC spring retreat luncheon over the weekend and praised him “for his leadership and work in the US House,” emphasizing “the need for party unity, collaboration, and expanding the GOP’s House Majority,” according to the campaign.
MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’s moving ahead with effort to oust Speaker Johnson
Greene has criticized Johnson for working with Democrats on several key pieces of legislation — including keeping the government open and providing foreign aid. Johnson has fought back, saying he’s a lifelong Republican, but must do his job to serve the entire House with an extremely thin Republican majority.
“I would really like to advance much more of our conservative policy on a daily basis here. But the reality is we are working with the smallest majority in U.S. history with a one-vote margin,” Johnson said.
ABC News’ Arthur Jones II and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
In bid to oust Speaker Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene reveals her demands originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
