'Jesus himself could not manage this conference': House GOP rep blasts far-right colleagues

After lawmakers returned to Washington this week, several Republicans made it clear that they aren't in favor of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Georgia) motion to vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana).

During an interview with CNN congressional reporter Manu Raju, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) commended the speaker on doing his best with a fractured House majority, and suggested his colleagues were being unreasonable in their attempts to oust him.

"It's an impossible job," Nehls said. "The lord Jesus himself could not manage this conference. You just can’t do it."

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Greene — who was too much even for the far-right House Freedom Caucus after it booted her last year — has made it clear she plans to officially introduce a motion to vacate the speaker in the event he approves another package of funding for Ukraine to assist in its ongoing war with Russia. She defended the motion in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, saying constituents were pressuring her to take action against Johnson after he worked with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown in March.

Still, Greene's colleagues aren't eager to help push her motion through the caucus. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) told Raju that Johnson is a "great human" who "doesn't lie like the last guy," referring to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California). And Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), who is considered one of the more moderate members of the House Republican Conference, suggested that efforts to trigger another lengthy battle for the speakership were not productive.

"I think people don't like the dysfunction. That's not good for our side," Bacon said. "And with a one-seat majority, it only takes a couple people to create dysfunction."

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) agreed, telling Raju that Johnson was "working his guts out" to do the best he can to wrangle "a lot of feral cats."

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Johnson has only held the speaker's gavel for roughly six months, and was voted into the position unanimously by all members of the House GOP. He was the fourth candidate to emerge from the fray after House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) all failed to win over Republicans.

McCarthy became the first sitting House speaker in US history to be ousted via a motion to vacate from his own party last fall, after he helped broker a deal with Democrats to pass a measure raising the debt ceiling and keeping the US current on its debt service obligations. Like McCarthy, Johnson has faced backlash from members of his own party for working with Democrats to pass appropriations bills keeping government agencies from shutting down.

After Greene introduced her motion to vacate, Democrats made it clear that should an effort to remove Johnson be put on the House floor for consideration, they would vote to keep him in his role — particularly if he successfully whipped votes for a foreign aid package that already passed the US Senate.

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Watch the video of Republicans' comments to Raju below, or by clicking this link.