House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) pushed back on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to vacate against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), saying it is “not the right business model.”
“Now Mike Johnson walked into a bad situation,” Comer said Friday an interview with Fox News’s Martha MacCallum. “It’s gotten a lot worse since he’s been here. But changing Speakers is not the right business model.”
His comments come as Greene has ramped up hear threat against the Speaker in light of his efforts to provide additional aid to Ukraine. She filed the motion to vacate against Johnson back in late March and has gained at least three GOP co-sponsors.
Earlier this week, the Georgia Republican said she doesn’t care if the “Speaker’s office becomes a revolving door.” In an appearance on former White House aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, she said she wants “an ‘America First’ economy” and that “we are going to demand it from our Republican leaders.”
Comer appeared to disagree, saying Friday that Johnson should “remain Speaker,” at least until the end of the current session. Then, he said “we can re-huddle, and decide which direction to go in next year.”
He also acknowledged that he thought the motion to vacate that resulted in the historic ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) late last year was a “mistake.” He added that the move “really disrupted” the House Republican Conference in “a bad way.”
Also asked about former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s recent comment that the motion to vacate was “totally stupid,” as it would be difficult to find 218 supporters, Comer seemingly agreed, standing behind Johnson.
“But right now, as you mentioned, there’s not going to be another candidate that 100 percent of our conference is gonna rally behind,” the lawmaker said.
Still, Comer said he was opposed to the Ukraine aid provisions within the foreign spending package introduced by Johnson nearly a week ago.
The pressure on the Speaker to pass additional assistance for the embattled country has been strong. With the help of Democrats, to some conservatives’ dismay, the House advanced the group of bills that would send more aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, among other priorities.
“They are different aid bills. With respect to Ukraine, I’m totally opposed to that,” Comer told MacCallum. “I don’t believe the hard-working, tax-paying people in Kentucky want to see their hard-earned tax dollars go to Ukraine. We’ve already given Ukraine a lot of money.”
“We certainly hope Ukraine defeats Russia, but I believe America has already gone above and beyond,” he added. And we’ve got our own border we have to worry about and that should be the number one priority.”
The Hill has reached out to Greene’s office.
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