Greene blasts Johnson for ‘dirty swamp deals,’ keeping ‘everyone in the dark’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday over his handling of a continuing resolution to keep the government open.

Johnson’s bill was faulted by a number of House Republicans as well as key figures in President-elect Trump’s orbit for including too many provisions backed by Democrats. The Speaker needed the minority party to back the bill to get it through the House.

“Johnson needs to stop the same failed pattern making dirty swamp deals behind closed doors and keeping everyone in the dark,” Greene wrote Thursday in a statement on the social platform X.

“Republicans need to be working together to deliver the mandate. That requires big changes in behavior,” the new House subcommittee chair for the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) added.

Greene criticized Johnson for holding closed-door meetings with select leaders, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, instead of a broad forum for all party members, claiming Republicans have been “told nothing.”

Amid the pushback on CR text, Greene said she would support DOGE co-head Elon Musk for House Speaker in a subsequent post.

“I’d be open to supporting @elonmusk for Speaker of the House. DOGE can only truly be accomplished by reigning in Congress to enact real government efficiency,” Greene penned.

“The establishment needs to be shattered just like it was yesterday. This could be the way,” she later added.

Johnson faces a Jan. 3 vote for the Speakership that is beginning to look dicey. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Wednesday said he would not back Johnson to keep the role.

Johnson cannot afford to lost more than a vote or two to be elected Speaker, though the exact number of votes he needs depends on whether members who don’t support him merely vote present, or vote for another candidate.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also floated the idea of Musk as Speaker earlier Thursday morning.

“Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk . . . think about it .  . . nothing’s impossible. (not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds),” he said in a Thursday statement. 

Ahead of that vote, Congress faces a deadline Friday to reach some kind of deal to keep the government funded.

The idea of moving a “clean” funding measure plus a hike to the debt ceiling has been floated, but such legislation would not be backed by Democrats. That means Johnson would have to rely on his own GOP members to get it passed through the House.

Many Republicans oppose short-term funding measures on principle, and also have misgivings about voting to increase the debt ceiling.