Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has named her price for backing down on her threat to call a vote on Speaker Mike Johnson’s removal.<\/p>\n
In a nearly two-hour long meeting yesterday requested by Greene to explore potential off-ramps, the MAGA firebrand and allied Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) outlined several policy demands they are seeking before calling off their plans.<\/p>\n
They include, according to people familiar with the talks:<\/p>\n
No further aid for Ukraine; <\/p>\n
A return to the \u201cHastert Rule,\u201d meaning no legislation is brought to a vote without support from a majority of the House majority; <\/p>\n
Defunding the special counsel probes into former President Donald Trump in upcoming appropriations; and <\/p>\n
Enforcement of the \u201cMassie Rule,\u201d whereby government funding is automatically cut across the board if no superseding agreement is reached before a set deadline. <\/p>\n
They\u2019ll meet again today at 12:30 p.m. in hopes of finding a detente. Spokespeople for Greene and Johnson declined to comment on their discussions, but the speaker struck a conciliatory note after yesterday\u2019s meeting, sympathizing with Greene and pledging to \u201ckeep this team together.\u201d
Make no mistake, though, the pressure for Republican party unity in an election year is weighing on Greene, who is battling exasperated GOP colleagues and skepticism from the party’s unquestioned leader, Trump.<\/p>\n
Johnson could be in a position to grant at least some of Greene’s asks. Since this Congress has effectively finished passing controversial, must-do items such as funding the government, raising the debt ceiling and extending surveillance authorities, Johnson can probably stick to the Hastert Rule (named for former, now-disgraced<\/a> speaker Dennis Hastert).<\/p>\n Democrats agreed to a version of the Massie Rule during last year\u2019s spending talks with then-speaker Kevin McCarthy \u2014 so Johnson could probably go there as well. <\/p>\n On Ukraine, Congress just sent Kyiv $60 billion in aid \u2014 enough to last through the year by most estimates, though Greene might also want to strike an expected nine-figure aid authorization<\/a> in the annual Pentagon policy bill that\u2019s expected to move later this year.<\/p>\n But defunding special counsel Jack Smith’s Trump investigations could be much trickier. Front-line Republicans in the past have balked at such demands, to say nothing of Democrats. If Greene is expecting Johnson to put up a fight on a much-anticipated September continuing resolution, that would be a recipe for a federal shutdown just weeks before the election.<\/p>\n The two sides don\u2019t have a deal yet \u2014 and might never get one \u2014 but it\u2019s clear temperatures are dropping. A handshake solution, after all, is in the interest of both parties: It would spare Johnson a risky vote where he\u2019d be relying on the generosity of Democrats to save his gavel.<\/p>\n And for Greene, her relationship with Trump and his inner circle is on the line, we\u2019re told. The former president \u201ccould not have been clearer,\u201d one person close to him said last night, in signaling that he isn\u2019t interested in any more intraparty drama this election season.<\/p>\n Like this content? Sign up for POLITICO’s Playbook newsletter. <\/p>\n