Marjorie Taylor Greene faces GOP backlash after failed bid to oust speaker

WASHINGTON — A throng of media crowded around U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday evening on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, straining to hear her angry reaction after a bipartisan coalition of House members dismissed her efforts to oust Mike Johnson as House speaker.

But also nearby, still within earshot, were roughly a dozen other GOP lawmakers who wanted to make sure the media knew they were outraged, too. Congressman Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, said even some lawmakers who like Greene and are unhappy with Johnson who did not approve of her surprise move to force a vote on her motion to vacate.

“They were angry that she brought it to the floor today, thought there was a betrayal of them against what they had agreed on,” he said. Greene on Wednesday shrugged off the criticism and said it is Johnson and the House Republicans who voted to save him who are on the hot seat.

“The uniparty was on full display today,” the Republican from Rome said. “American conservatives all over the country that gave us the majority in 2022, they want a Republican Party that’s ready to fight for our agenda. They want a Republican Party that’s ready to pass President (Donald) Trump’s agenda. And this Republican Party is not ready, and they proved it today.”

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Michigan newspaper editor who chronicled Ottawa County upheaval fired after trying to staff 'ghost' papers

DETROIT — A west Michigan newspaper editor who earned kudos for her blow-by-blow coverage of Ottawa County government’s takeover by right-wing activists last year said she has been fired by her employer, Gannett Co.

The removal of Sarah Leach as group editor of the Holland Sentinel and two dozen other newspapers came after she vented to a journalist at the nonprofit media site Poynter that Gannett's promised hires for news positions had not materialized for months, as selected job candidates waited on offers.

Without outing Leach, the Poynter reporter asked Gannett whether they had indeed “paused” an initiative to restaff the company’s smallest daily papers, some of which had dwindled to just one or no local news reporters.

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