.png)
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Standoff between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Johnson continues with ouster vote looming
Good morning, US politics blog readers.
The never ending story, also known as the Republican speaker saga, continues today with a scheduled next round of talks between firebrand extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Johnson, the leader she has promised to unseat.
The pair met for several hours on Monday, with some observers suggesting the Georgia congresswoman is looking for an off-ramp, knowing that Democrats have already promised to keep Johnson in place in any House vote to oust him.
But it’s not an olive branch that Greene, and her new close ally Thomas Massie of Kentucky, are seeking. They want a block on further US funding for Ukraine, which caused her outrage in the first place, and a host of other political concessions we’ll look at in the blog shortly.
As things stand, Greene, Johnson and probably Massie are set to converse again at lunchtime. Whether Greene can be talked out of pressing ahead with a potentially embarrassing “motion to vacate”, the vote that could see Johnson booted, remains to be seen.
Here’s what else we’re watching today:
Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar is fighting for his political life days after he and his wife were indicted for bribery, fraud and money laundering over their links to Azerbaijan. Democratic leadership issued a lukewarm message of support, and Cuellar’s chief of staff Jake Hochberg quit Monday, with other staff said to be planning to join him.
Speaker Johnson has a busy day, aside from his meeting with Greene and Massie. He’ll be hosting a press conference with Republican leadership this morning, and meeting King Abdullah of Jordan in Washington DC this afternoon.
Joe Biden will deliver remarks at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance ceremony this morning; and meet Romanian president Klaus Iohannis at the White House this afternoon.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s daily media briefing is scheduled for 2pm ET.
