House Oversight Committee Chair, James Comer (R-Ky.), has expressed his opposition to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to vacate against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), stating that it is not an appropriate approach for the situation. Comer believes that this particular business model is not suitable for addressing the matter at hand.
According to Comer, Mike Johnson found himself in a difficult situation when he entered the scene. However, things have only deteriorated further since his arrival. Despite this, Comer believes that changing Speakers is not the ideal solution for addressing the issues at hand.
In light of his efforts to provide additional aid to Ukraine, Greene has recently intensified his threat against the Speaker. Back in late March, she filed the motion to vacate against Johnson, and since then, she has managed to secure the support of at least three GOP co-sponsors.
Earlier this week, the Georgia Republican expressed her indifference towards the possible turnover of the Speaker’s office. During her appearance on former White House aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, she emphasized her strong desire for an “America First” economy and made it clear that she expects Republican leaders to prioritize this vision.
According to Comer, he expressed his disagreement on Friday regarding Johnson’s position and stated that Johnson should continue serving as the Speaker until the current session concludes. He further suggested that they should reconvene after the session ends to discuss the next steps for the following year.
In addition, he admitted that he considered the decision to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) through the motion to vacate as a mistake. He recognized that this action had a significant impact on the House Republican Conference, causing a disruption in a negative manner.
Comer echoed Johnson’s stance when asked about former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s recent comment, suggesting that the motion to vacate was “totally stupid” due to the challenge of garnering 218 supporters.
According to the lawmaker, at present, there isn’t a candidate whom the entire conference will unanimously support.
Comer expressed his opposition to the Ukraine aid provisions included in the foreign spending package proposed by Johnson almost a week ago.
The Speaker has faced significant pressure to approve further assistance for the troubled country. Despite some conservatives’ objections, the House, with the support of Democrats, has advanced a series of bills aimed at providing additional aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the Indo-Pacific region, among other important priorities.
In an interview with MacCallum, Comer expressed his strong opposition to the aid bill for Ukraine. He firmly believes that the hard-working taxpayers in Kentucky would not want their hard-earned money to be allocated to Ukraine, considering that the country has already received a significant amount of financial assistance.
“We are definitely rooting for Ukraine to overcome Russia, but I think America has already done more than enough,” he said. “We have our own border to be concerned about, and that should be our top priority.”
