House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shrugged off a threat of removal from pro-Trump Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) during a softball interview with Fox News host Trey Gowdy.

Johnson said that Greene's motion to vacate the chair is "just hanging there" and that he texted Greene over the weekend to discuss their differences.

"Look, Marjorie Taylor Greene filed the motion. It’s not a privilege motion so it doesn’t move automatically; it’s just hanging there. And she’s frustrated. She and I exchanged text messages even today," he told Gowdy.

Johnson dismisses removal

The Speaker is facing a major test as he prepares to bring foreign aid for Ukraine to the floor, a move that is likely to anger many Republican voters as the southern border crisis rages unabated.

Greene has already cited the Ukraine issue as a red line. She filed a motion to vacate the chair after Johnson cooperated with Democrats to keep the government open without major reductions in federal spending.

Johnson has pushed back on criticism by citing his party's narrow control of one-half of Congress.

The Speaker knocked Greene's criticism as a "distraction" and said Republicans cannot afford dissent when their majority is so fragile.

“These are not the perfect pieces of legislation that you and I and Marjorie would draft if we had the ability to do it differently. But with the smallest margin in U.S. history, we’re sometimes going to get legislation that we don’t like," he told Fox News.

Greene doubles down!

As he seeks to corral disillusioned Republicans, Johnson has pointed to the risk of losing control of the House to Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

But for Greene, it's a distinction without a difference.

The fiery Republican told the Daily Mail that Johnson might as well be a Democrat, pointing to his failure to secure border funding or reel in the Justice Department, which is attempting to jail President Trump.

"He cannot be Speaker of the House," she said. "He just can't be, I won't vote for him. Many other Republican members are saying the same thing. He's not our speaker. He's the Democrat speaker."

She also characterized her contacts with Johnson in less friendly terms than he did, saying she texted him after he left a voicemail "complaining" about his tiring job.

"Someone just told me that he had said he had talked to me over the break but we had very little communication," Greene said.

"He had called on Thursday night before Good Friday and left a message," she said. "Basically, just saying how tired he was and how he was traveling through states fundraising and mainly that he was really wanting to talk to me. And so when I got that message, I just texted him back. You know, I don't want to talk to someone that's so tired and complaining nonstop."