House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) motion to resign House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) “appropriate.” “It's not a good business model,” he said. ”
“Mike Johnson is in a bad situation,” Comer said in an interview with Fox News' Martha McCallum on Friday. “The situation has deteriorated considerably since he came here. But changing speakers is not the right business model.”
His comments come as Mr. Greene has stepped up his threats against the chairman in light of his efforts to provide additional aid to Ukraine. She introduced a motion calling for Johnson to resign in late March, with at least three Republican co-sponsors.
“I don't care if the office of a member of Congress becomes a revolving door,” a Georgia Republican said earlier this week. Appearing on former White House aide Steve Bannon's “War Room” podcast, she said she wants “an 'America first' economy” and “we're going to demand that from Republican leadership.” he said.
Mr Comer did not seem to agree, saying on Friday that Mr Johnson should “remain as Speaker” at least until the end of this Congress. Then, he said, “we can come together again and decide what direction we want to go next year.”
He also acknowledged that he believes the motion to resign late last year that led to the historic ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was a “mistake.” He added that the move “really disrupted” the House Republican conference “in a bad way.”
Comer was also asked about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's recent comments that a motion to resign was “absolutely stupid” because it would be difficult to find 218 supporters, and Comer said he supported Johnson. He seemed to agree.
“But at this point, as you mentioned, there is probably no other candidate that 100% of our conference would support,” the lawmaker said.
Still, Mr Kamel said he opposed the Ukraine aid clause in Mr Johnson's external spending package introduced about a week ago.
There is intense pressure on the Speaker to pass additional aid to countries facing conflict. To the chagrin of some conservatives, the House, with help from Democrats, advanced a series of bills that would send more aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, among other priorities.
“These are different aid bills. As for Ukraine, I'm completely against it,” Kamel told McCallum. “I don’t believe hard-working, tax-paying Kentuckians want their hard-earned tax dollars going to Ukraine. We already give too much money to Ukraine. Masu.”
“We certainly want Ukraine to beat Russia, but we believe the United States is already beyond that,” he added. And we have our own borders to worry about, and that should be our top priority. ”
The Hill has reached out to Greene's office.
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