Miller-Meeks, Hinson don’t support move to oust Speaker Mike Johnson

Reps. Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks told The Daily Iowan they don’t support plunging the House into chaos with the motion to vacate.

Liam Halawith, Politics Editor

April 9, 2024

Cody Blissett

The south wing of the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

WASHINGTON — Iowa Republican U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks told The Daily Iowan they would not vote for U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, R-Ga., motion to vacate the speakership as she ramps up her public disapproval of the House Speaker this week.

Their comments come as Greene voices her dissatisfaction with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Greene said Johnson’s work with Democrats to pass the Fiscal 2024 budget with more Democratic support than Republican support shows he’s not willing to stand up to Democrats.

“Like many of you, I ran for Congress to save our country from the destructive path it was on, but the primary reason I ran was because I was fed up with Republicans constantly promising what they would do to stop the Democrats, yet never following through on those promises,” Greene wrote in a letter to other members of the U.S. House on Tuesday.

However, Hinson and Miller-Meeks told the DI that they would not support forcing Johnson out of the speaker’s seat, plunging the House and Congress into more chaos.

“We need to govern and I’m going to try to get the most conservative wins we can and divide a government and that’s difficult … But ousting our speaker isn’t the answer here,” Hinson said.

Miller-Meeks said there are much more important items on Congress’ agenda than fighting over the speaker’s chair again.

“As Republicans, we tend to be individualistic and we tend to be free thinkers and I value all have the input of all of our conference members,” Miller-Meeks said of Greene’s motion. “But I think, especially given the short timeline, we have some very important things that we need to get done.”

Greene’s push comes after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., ousted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October over a vote on a spending bill also using more Democrats than Republicans to support the measure.

Democrats have signaled they may have votes to lend to keep Johnson from being ousted by hard-right members of the party.

However, while the fight over the speaker continues to play out in Congress the motion, first filed in March before lawmakers went into recess for several weeks, does not have a timeline but Greene signaled in the letter to colleagues Tuesday the threat still remains.