Mike Johnson Makes Marjorie Taylor Greene 'Very Happy'

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene praised House Speaker Mike Johnson's rejection of a bipartisan bill to secure the U.S.-Mexico border as Congress struggles to reach a deal to tackle the surge in migrant arrivals in recent months.

Congress has sought to pass a bill to tackle what Republicans have dubbed a "border crisis" amid an uptick in asylum seekers entering the United States. There were more than 2.4 million encounters at the border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

Republicans have blamed the increase on President Joe Biden's border policies, though some experts point to external factors such as political and economic turmoil in some Central American countries as fueling migration.

However, the GOP-led House does not appear poised to take up a bipartisan bill proposed by a coalition of Democratic and Republican senators, as conservative hardliners argue the bill would not go far enough to end illegal immigration into the U.S. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has said the Senate deal would be "dead on arrival in the House."

His comments earned praise from Greene, a Georgia Republican known as among the most conservative members of Congress, who on Tuesday praised him for being "extremely clear that he's been telling everyone that this so-called deal—which is not a deal—is dead on arrival in the House," according to Politico's Olivia Beavers.

"He said he won't support it, which made me very happy because I was completely against it," Greene said.

Johnson on Tuesday called the Senate border bill a "surrender."

"It seems the new authority to shut down the border would kick in only after as many as 5,000 illegal crossings happen each day," he said. "Why would you tolerate 5,000 a day?"

Newsweek reached out to Greene's and Johnson's offices via email for comment.

Grant Davis Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, said Johnson may be trying to "nudge the content of the compromise in a way that is more favorable to the more conservative wing of his party."

"He may just be trying to signal something to the process on the Senate side," he said.

It's hard to say whether Johnson rejecting the bill would hurt Republicans, Reeher said, pointing to wide divisions in how Americans view immigration issues. While Americans agree something needs to be done at the border, views vary about the nature of the problem and what needs to be done to solve it.

He also said this is likely the last chance Congress has to pass immigration legislation until after the election in November.

Robert Y. Shaprio, a professor of political science at Columbia University, told Newsweek that Johnson not taking up the Senate bill could hurt Republicans in November. He said that Biden has "shifted significantly toward a harder line on the border," but Republicans may oppose the bill to not give him a "win" on the issue.

"The border problem has hurt the Biden administration and is a definite election issue, but if it is the Republicans who hold up dealing with the problem, any benefit they have had from the issue could fall off," he said.

After being elected speaker in October, Johnson has sought to appease his conference's right flank while also managing the needs of Republicans representing more competitive districts, including 18 won by Biden in 2020.

Johnson drew the ire of House conservatives after passing a bill to temporarily fund the government as Congress struggles to reach a deal on appropriations bills, sparking questions about whether they would vacate his speakership. Greene has floated vacating the speakership if he passes more funding for Ukraine.

But he has aligned with conservatives on issues such as immigration and investigations into the Biden family.

Johnson has been critical of the Senate border bill, which has been received poorly by many conservatives. In a January 27 post to X, formerly Twitter, Johnson wrote that the legislation "would expressly allow as many as 150,000 illegal crossings each month (1.8 million per year) before any new 'shutdown' authority could be used."

Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has urged Republicans not to accept anything less than a "perfect" border deal before the general election in November, sparking questions about whether some Republicans are working to prevent Biden from scoring a victory by signing the border bill into law.

Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, voiced criticism of Republicans opposing the bill during an interview on Fox News Sunday.

"It's interesting. Republicans four months ago would not give funding for Ukraine, Israel and for our southern border because we demanded changes in policy," he said. "So we actually locked arms together and said, we're not going to give you money for this, we want a change in law.

"And now it's interesting, a few months later, when we're finally getting to the end, they're like, 'oh, just kidding, I actually don't want a change in law because of the presidential election year.'"

Update 1/30/24 1:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.