Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was never hugely popular among her more centrist colleagues. After forcing a vote on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson, even droves of conservatives seem to have abandoned her — leaving the Georgia firebrand with next to no allies in the House.

“People are calling me saying: ‘Please, tell her to not do this.’ Mike is a good man. He’s doing the best he can. Trump’s calling her and telling her not to,” said Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.). ”I think she’s lost a whole lot of respect in her district.”

Greene finally followed through on her six-week threat to force a referendum vote on Johnson’s speakership Wednesday. Ten Republicans joined her effort, though it’s unclear whether all of them would’ve voted to depose the GOP leader.

Johnson hasn’t publicly indicated that he’ll punish Greene for her failed push, but the vast majority of House Republicans — exhausted with the constant chaos of their slim majority — are writing her off entirely as a bothersome sideshow. While there’s little chance Greene would lose her reelection bid in November, her growing list of foes could mean a severely restricted future for the Georgia firebrand, at least in the House.

“She’s fundraising,” one member, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said. “She’s pissed off because she was friends with [former Speaker Kevin] McCarthy and she missed the first vacancy, so she called the second vacancy.”

Greene has kept at least one major ally in all this, however: former President Donald Trump. In a post on his social network, Trump disagreed with Greene’s tactics on the motion to vacate the speakership but quickly added “I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene.” Never mind that she had ignored the former president’s own efforts to privately stave off her efforts.

And Greene defended her tactics Wednesday evening as she stood next to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), her main ally, and spoke with reporters immediately after the vote.

“I’m proud of myself, because this is the whole reason why I ran for Congress. … I’m sick and tired of the Republican Party that never does what they say they’re going to do. I’m tired of them making promises on television,” she said.

She also hit back at criticism that she’s out of touch with her own constituents, adding: “I’m doing everything I promised my district when I ran for Congress.”

Meanwhile, her colleagues were taking every opportunity to publicly disparage her. When she came onto the floor to announce she was forcing the ouster vote, her GOP colleagues heckled and booed her. Democrats loudly yelled “Hakeem!” referring to the minority leader, who has an unusual amount of power this Congress given deep GOP divisions.

At one point, as Greene was speaking with a large scrum of reporters outside the Capitol after the vote failed, Rep. Brandon Williams — standing alongside his fellow New York Republicans — started yelling over her, saying: “Why do those losers get all of the attention?”

“Moscow Marjorie has clearly gone off the deep end — maybe the result of a space laser,” scoffed Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).

Even Johnson himself, who has a reputation for his conciliatory approach and not seeking retribution against his members, got in an indirect dig at the Georgia Republican on Wednesday.

“Hopefully this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined 118th Congress,” he said. “It’s regrettable.”

The Main Street Republicans, who are more establishment-minded and were furious with Greene’s effort to boot Johnson, went out of their way to bash Greene, speaking with reporters before and after the vote.

“Listen, all of us in life get to decide how we handle disappointment. You can be productive or you can be destructive. Ms. Taylor Greene is choosing destructive,” Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), chair of that group, said before the vote. “She is engaged in a failing act of political theater.”

Even some Democrats, who otherwise might have been glad to see GOP disunity, made it clear they’re taking her antics personally. Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska, one of the more centrist members of the Democratic coalition, noted that the last GOP speaker fight called her back to Washington shortly after her husband died in a plane crash.

“This isn’t a game or a joke for us,” Peltola, who supported keeping Johnson, said in a statement. “There’s real work that needs to get done.”

Even outside Republican groups hammered Greene, pushing for a return to more stable governance.

“The MTG fiasco shows again why our party has a problem with unserious crybabies. These are people who grandstand, fundraise for themselves, and disrupt the GOP’s responsible governing agenda,” said Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership, in a statement. “We cannot keep repeating this juvenile nonsense every six months.”

Nicholas Wu and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

After Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s doomed referendum on Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership, a growing number of her GOP colleagues are pushing bigger consequences for her and other rebels.

Those Republicans are proposing to build specific punishments into conference rules that would be triggered if hardliners keep breaking ranks against leadership. Sanctions getting floated include arming the entire conference with the ability to force a vote on yanking their committees or even ejecting them from the conference altogether.

The same consequences may also be on the table for Republicans who vote to block GOP bills from even getting to the floor — a once-rare show of discontent that has become increasingly popular on the House’s right flank.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some changes on a couple of committees after watching that motion to table vote,” remarked Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) as he exited the Capitol late Wednesday.

Frustration in the conference’s centrist wing has simmered for months, but it’s boiling over thanks to a growing concern: Greene hasn’t ruled out striking again, keeping alive worries among her colleagues that the Georgia Republican may well take another shot at Johnson.

And, more broadly, GOP lawmakers fret that the House could be stuck in a self-inflicted chaos loop that hobbles them heading into November — unless they course-correct.

“There is an extremely high level of interest, by a high number of members, to change the rules right now,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), the chair of the Main Street Caucus.

He added that after Greene’s decision to force a no-confidence vote, he expects renewed GOP conversations about “what rules do we need in place for the House to function, period. … I am interested in anything that would make the House run better.”

So far, the public warning signs that she’s pushed many in the conference toward their breaking point aren’t fazing Greene, who has said she doesn’t mind retribution.

“They probably want to kick me off committees. They probably want a primary. I say, go ahead. … That is absolutely their problem,” she said after Wednesday’s vote.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), her main ally in the ouster effort, was even more unbowed. He predicted that Republicans who opposed trying to strip Johnson of the speaker’s gavel were going to “take an ass-whooping from their base.”

There are plenty of reasons to doubt that Republicans could muscle through rules changes they see as necessary to protecting their majority. But more and more of them are fed up: Reps. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) both proposed during a recent closed-door conference meeting to remove members from committees if they vote against rules for debate. Van Orden and McClintock later confirmed their position to POLITICO.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) explicitly reupped those calls after Wednesday’s vote, floating the ejection of Massie and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), in particular, from the Rules Committee — after they voted to keep Greene’s ouster push alive. Others have privately discussed the idea of expanding the Rules panel, with more Republicans to counteract those who have blocked bills from reaching the floor.

Members of the Main Street Caucus, in particular, were interested in building specific consequences into the rules even before Greene triggered her vote. Their push stemmed from their growing belief that Republicans are no longer united around what was once a constant of the majority: That you vote for a rule to get your party’s priorities to the floor even if you oppose the underlying legislation.

Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), in an interview this week ahead of the vote, recalled that former Speaker John Boehner gave him four core principles upon his arrival in Congress in 2015, with the first one being: Don’t vote against a rule from your own party.

“We now have people that routinely vote against the rules … so I think we bottomed out,” said Zinke, arguing that Republicans should honor Boehner’s edict.

“I would suggest a 80 percent rule. Oddly enough, what the Freedom Caucus has. If someone routinely violates the rules … then it should be the conference’s decision of whether he should be removed or suspended from committees,” he added.

But Republicans are increasingly acknowledging that they will have to wait until January to change their biggest procedural pet peeve: The ability of any one member to trigger a speaker-ousting vote. Given opposition from conservatives in their own ranks — who privately told Johnson this week that they didn’t support raising the threshold — they would need Democratic help to do so before 2025. And that is likely to come with too many concessions.

Still, Republicans pushing for broader changes are hoping that by giving the power to the entire GOP conference to pull members off committees, it would take the onus off of the speaker or GOP leader — and thus lessen the risk of blowback.

Even if they can’t formally boot Greene from committees, many House Republicans believe she’s isolated herself within the conference, on top of being voted out of the Freedom Caucus and losing McCarthy as her inroad to influencing leadership.

“She’s an island unto herself right now,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said.

Still, Johnson is unlikely to heed the latest calls, having already warned that removing people from committees could backfire. Plus, conservatives believe he isn’t the type to seek retribution.

The speaker said that he talked with Greene and her allies on Wednesday night immediately after the vote and told them he isn’t holding a grudge, indicating he’s ready to move past the drama.

“They were some of the last to leave. And, I said, ‘You know what? I don’t carry grudges, and I’m not angry about this. We have to work together. And I want to work with you guys. And those ideas we were talking about? I’m still working on them. So I hope we can put this behind us and move forward,’” he told POLITICO in an interview.

Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

Electorally vulnerable Senate Democrats are in a tricky position over Biden administration plans to allow Palestinian refugees into the U.S. — a move that’s becoming a political football in the party’s toughest races.

The idea of allowing Palestinian refugees into the U.S. blends a couple of political problem points for Democrats. It touches on immigration, a subject Republicans regularly hammer their opponents on, and it could also be seen as a referendum on Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, where high civilian casualties have sent many fleeing for refuge.

“I’ve been clear that allowing anyone to enter the country without being properly vetted and going through a legal process undermines our national security,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “And that neighboring countries in the region including Egypt and Jordan should play a leading role in taking in refugees.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said the White House and Biden’s administration should keep its focus on a bigger prize: “The administration should be focused on reaching an agreement that ends the fighting, frees the hostages and gets much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

The plan from the administration — which has not been finalized — would open a pathway for entry to Palestinian refugees who have family members that are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. It would be a small portion of the larger population of Palestinians affected by worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Still, with just about six months until Election Day, Democrats from red and purple states are hesitant to stick their neck out for the plan. And GOP Senate candidates are starting to focus on the issue: Dave McCormick is hitting Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) for not doing more to stop the resettlement program, while Bernie Moreno is asking Brown to stop the plan.

The result has been a swirl of lukewarm responses from frontline Senate Democrats. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who’s in an increasingly competitive race, said she’s “focused on ensuring the safe release of hostages held by Hamas and am closely monitoring the current negotiations.”

“At the same time, more must be done to reduce civilian casualties and provide humanitarian assistance, which is why I’m encouraged to see the dramatic increase in aid being delivered in Gaza,” she added in a statement.

Casey echoed a similar sentiment, with a spokesperson saying in a statement that the senator “is focused on supporting Israel as it prosecutes its war against terrorist Hamas leaders, getting the hostages home, and ensuring Israel fulfills its obligation to prioritize humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. He believes U.S. focus should be on these three goals right now.”

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic nominee for the Michigan Senate race, appears to be keeping a fairly neutral tone, too. Slotkin spokesperson Lynsey Mukomel said “the U.S. has a long-standing program to vet and allow entry for refugees.”

“That program has long applied to Palestinians in some circumstances, and the congresswoman expects that to continue in line with USCIS plans,” Mukomel added.

Senate Republicans have cast opening the door to an influx of Palestinian refugees as a national security risk. A letter penned by 34 Senate Republicans last week to Biden said, “we are not confident that your administration can adequately vet this high-risk population for terrorist ties and sympathies before admitting them into the United States.”

One vulnerable senator POLITICO surveyed gave a slightly more positive response to the administration’s reported plans. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said in a statement: “The U.S. has a proud tradition of sheltering innocent civilians fleeing war and persecution while also ensuring Americans’ safety. Refugees are thoroughly vetted before they enter the United States to ensure they are not a threat to Americans.”

A Senate agreement on a path forward for FAA reauthorization remains on standby, as Washington stares down a Friday deadline.

Another procedural vote is slated for 1 p.m. as lawmakers continue work on the broader reauthorization. However, the House passed a one-week extension before leaving town Wednesday, offering the Senate a possible escape hatch.

Even that won’t be easy, though. Virginia’s Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner said they would not consent to speedy passage of the one-week extension unless they’re guaranteed a vote on their amendment to strip a provision adding more flight slots to Reagan National Airport.

“We can’t in good conscience greenlight that plan until we have a commitment that there will be an opportunity to put our amendment to a vote, and to persuade our colleagues to prioritize the safety of millions of passengers over a few senators’ desire for a direct flight home,” the Virginia duo said in a statement Thursday.

One more thing: The Senate Appropriations Committee hears from acting Labor Secretary Julie Su at 10 a.m. on her department’s budget request. Su has remained atop the agency even as she appears unable to secure the support necessary for Senate confirmation.

Almost all House Republicans joined with Democrats to table an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oust Speaker Mike Johnson from his position.

The final tally: The vote was 359-43, with seven members voting present. Twenty-one members did not vote.

The yeses: The bulk of both parties voted to table and dispense with the challenge to Johnson’s leadership. 163 Democrats joined 193 Republicans in support of tabling Greene’s effort.

The nos: Just 11 GOP members opposed tabling the move, as did 32 Democrats.

Those Republicans opposed were Reps. Greene, Thomas Massie (Ky.), Warren Davidson (Ohio), Chip Roy (Texas), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Eric Burlison (Mo.), Alex Mooney (W.Va.), Barry Moore (Ala.), Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.).

The presents: Seven Democrats — Reps. Mark Pocan (Wis.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Norma Torres (Calif.), Chuy García (Ill.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Judy Chu (Calif.) and Mark Takano (Calif.) — voted present on the motion.

Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

Barely 24 hours after muddying her timeline, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) did it anyway — and lost big. Speaker Mike Johnson survived Greene’s first proposal to oust him, which was tabled on a lightning-quick 359-43 vote, with seven Democrats voting present.

Only 10 conservatives voted alongside Greene to keep her speaker-firing push alive. It was an unquestionable victory for Johnson, though he got a big boost from the vast majority of Democrats who voted to keep him in place.

But the Louisiana Republican’s time as speaker may have a serious time limit. Johnson reiterated this week that he intends to run again for the House’s top spot if Republicans keep the majority — and winning that race will be much tougher than his surprise victory last October.

Johnson’s clearest remarks to date on his future plans drew a notable degree of skepticism from conservatives — even those who supported him on Wednesday’s ouster vote.

A broad pulse check of Johnson’s right flank turned up two main findings: Quite a few aren’t committed to supporting him come January; and, in a larger potential headache, some of them anticipate he’ll have a challenger.

“You’re going to see … multiple folks throw their names in the hat,” said Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.). He declined to talk about whether he would personally back Johnson.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said that whether he votes for Johnson in January “depends on who is running” but that he “absolutely” expects a challenger.

“This is beyond personalities,” he added. “This is, what are you going to do?”

Frustration on Johnson’s right has been building for months, mainly over a series of government funding fights, a recent battle over government surveillance powers and his decision to pass billions of dollars in new Ukraine aid. Johnson met with members of the conservative Freedom Caucus on Monday night, when members lined up to air their frustrations with his strategy.

Many said they don’t think Johnson has fought hard enough for conservative priorities, Republicans in the group recounted to us.

“He hasn’t made a strong case,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said about whether he could back Johnson again in January, stressing that he is focused on November for now.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) — who mounted a symbolic challenge to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in late 2022 — told us he isn’t running again for the top spot, but that “there are people positioning themselves to run for speaker.”

Obviously, Johnson’s main antagonists will continue to oppose him: Greene, alongside Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). And the speaker’s number of prospective January foes grew during Wednesday’s surprise ouster test vote, with eight hardliners joining that trio: Biggs, Roy and Reps. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.).

Now, some of those conservatives — Mooney and Crane in particular — had already indicated they weren’t in favor of bouncing the speaker at this point. They may portray their votes as nothing more than procedural moves in favor of further debate on Johnson. Burlison, for example, told us after the vote that he is open to supporting Johnson in January but couldn’t stomach voting with Democrats to table on Wednesday.

Either way, it’s not a great sign for the next leadership election.

Greene and her allies met twice with Johnson this week and have outlined four areas they want to see action on — leaving the door open, however vaguely, to repeated ouster attempts before the election. Those talks haven’t seemed to shake their belief that Johnson can’t win come January.

“I think that’s still the case. It’s pretty obvious,” Massie said.

The size of Johnson’s problem come January depends on a few things, namely a favorite variable of House GOP leaders: the size of their majority. Unlike McCarthy, Johnson is keeping his public estimates low, predicting that they will grow the majority but it will still be relatively narrow — in the neighborhood of a 10-seat margin.

That would give him more room to maneuver than his predecessor, who had to make steep concessions to hardliners in order to win the gavel. But it’s not enough space for him to feel comfortable.

Of course, whether he can keep the gavel also depends on who could successfully challenge him, and House Republicans made it clear this past October that such a person isn’t easy to find.

The conference would first hold internal leadership votes sometime after the November election, where Johnson would only need a simple majority of the GOP to become the speaker nominee — and get a much better sense of the size of his opposition.

Assuming, of course, that the GOP holds onto the House. If Republicans don’t win the majority, importantly, they expect Johnson — like most speakers when the chamber flips — would be swept out of leadership. Or as one GOP member, who backs the speaker, acknowledged on condition of anonymity: “If we’re in the minority, where is he going to go? Out.”

Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump urged House Republicans to unite and not to go along with an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oust Speaker Mike Johnson — after the chamber already voted to table the attempt.

“I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, his social networking platform. “But if we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything! Mike Johnson is a good man who is trying very hard.”

“I also wish certain things were done over the last period of two months, but we will get them done, together,” Trump continued. The former president added his party would “WIN BIG – AND IT WILL BE SOON!”

Greene’s motion to toss Johnson failed on the House floor, as a bipartisan majority of the chamber voted to table it.

Speaker Mike Johnson beat Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to end his speakership.

The House voted overwhelmingly to table the so-called motion to vacate, with 11 Republicans voting to move forward on the attempt, including Greene. But support from a large swath of Democrats helped Johnson defeat it.

It’s still unclear if Greene or other Johnson critics will force another ouster vote before the end of the year. But Wednesday’s vote marks a victory for Johnson, letting him avoid the same fate as his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, who was ejected from the speakership in October.