Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is reportedly exploring a final act of disruption before she leaves Congress, quietly gauging whether she has enough support inside the Republican conference to force a vote to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson.
According to MS Now, Greene has been approaching fellow Republicans to see if she can secure the nine votes required to trigger a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. An anonymous source told the outlet that Greene is actively counting support and warning colleagues that continued inaction on codifying President Donald Trump’s agenda could set off internal chaos.
“Marjorie is approaching members to get to nine who will oust the speaker,” the source said. “And if we don’t get to work on codifying Trump’s agenda, anything can happen.”
Greene, who has announced plans to retire from Congress in early January following a public and bitter feud with Trump over the Epstein files, denied the report. She dismissed the claims as “not true,” pushing back on suggestions that she is plotting another leadership showdown.
Still, the report has landed amid simmering frustration within the House GOP and a long-running antagonism between Greene and Johnson. The Georgia Republican previously attempted to oust Johnson last year in protest of a foreign aid package for Ukraine and has spent much of the second Trump administration attacking the speaker as weak and ineffective.
Greene has accused Johnson of lacking a plan to lower healthcare costs, unnecessarily keeping the House out of session during a government shutdown, and sidelining Republican women during the Epstein files controversy and other internal battles. While it remains unclear whether she would have enough support to pursue a leadership challenge this time, signs of broader discontent within the party have been growing.
Earlier this month, Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is running for governor of New York, openly questioned Johnson’s standing inside the conference. “He certainly wouldn’t have the votes to be speaker if there was a roll-call vote tomorrow,” Stefanik told The Wall Street Journal. “I believe that the majority of Republicans would vote for new leadership. It’s that widespread.”
Greene’s retirement announcement has also emboldened anonymous criticism from within Republican ranks. One senior House Republican told Punchbowl News last month that morale inside the caucus is collapsing. “More explosive early resignations are coming,” the lawmaker said. “It’s a tinder box. Morale has never been lower.”
Johnson himself has acknowledged the strain of leading a deeply fractured majority. Speaking recently on a podcast, the speaker described the role as relentless and emotionally draining.
“I haven’t had a vacation day in two years. I haven’t been off in two years, literally,” Johnson said. “Last Christmas, I was taking calls from members with their drama. It takes everything out of whomever serves in the position, and by extension, their family.”
“You’re sort of like a firefighter,” he added. “You put out fires every hour.”
President Trump, however, has publicly stood by Johnson. This week, Trump praised him as a “fantastic speaker” and credited him with holding together a razor-thin Republican majority. That majority remains under intense pressure heading into the 2026 midterm elections, as voters continue to express anxiety over affordability and healthcare costs — issues Republicans have promised to address but have yet to coalesce around a clear plan.
