Speaker Johnson says tried talking to Greene about her motion to vacate but 'she wasn't interested'

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he tried to speak with fellow GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during Congress' recent recess about her effort to remove him from his leadership position but she "wasn't interested" in having a conversation. 

Greene, of Georgia, filed a motion to vacate late last month in an effort to remove Johnson after the House passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill. In an interview that aired Wednesday on CBN News, the speaker addressed his attempts to have a discussion with her and his thoughts on the spending bill.

"I tried over the two-week break. She wasn't interested in speaking, and that's okay," said Johnson, one day after the House reconvened.

The Louisiana lawmaker, facing removal after roughly  just six months as speaker, said he tried texting her about having a phone call or a meeting.

"Look, Marjorie is upset about the spending bill, and so am I," he said. "It's not the bill that I would have drafted, to all of us would have drafted, if we had the majority in the House and the Senate, and had a Republican president that would sign it into law, but instead, we have Democrats in those other two chambers."

Given the slim GOP majority in the House, the alternative to passing the spending bill would be to shut down the government, which would result in Republicans taking the blame and losing total control of Congress in the elections this November, Johnson said. 

"I like Marjorie. I understand why she's upset. She's frustrated that we can't score touchdowns in every single play, but the reality of the situation here is we have to do this incrementally," he also said. 

Considering how long it took for him to get elected, as well as his predecessor, former California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Johnson said that removing the speaker right now could mean that the position remains open for quite a long time and Congress will effectively be shut down.

Johnson holding a vote this week on billions in additional aid to Ukraine, which would likely pass only with Democrats voting in support, puts his position as speaker in further jeopardy.  

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