Cruz knocks Greene over Johnson ouster efforts: 'Seriously counterproductive'

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz this week excoriated Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over her attempts to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Greene this week indicated that she would move forward with a motion to vacate Johnson from his leadership position. She originally brought forth the motion in March after Johnson supported a $1.2 trillion "minibus" spending package. She has further criticized his support for extending the intelligence community's surveillance powers and approving a foreign aid package to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

"I think it is seriously counterproductive. I think Mike Johnson is a strong conservative who has been given an almost impossible task," Cruz said. He has a tiny majority in the House, just a two-vote majority. That means any three House members run off to the hills, and then the majority evaporates.

Cruz made the remarks on the RealClearPolitics radio show.

"And I think Marjorie Taylor Greene, to try to topple the Speaker increases the chances of chaos, it increases the chances of handing control to the Democrats. And there is zero chance a more conservative speaker will result, so I think what she’s doing is really unhelpful to the country," he concluded.

Johnson, for his part, has brushed aside Greene's efforts, indicating on Wednesday that "I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about her" in an interview with The Hill. "I got to do my job, and we do the right thing, and we let the chips fall where they may. And that's my philosophy, that's how we're governing."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.