Comer denounces Greene’s motion to vacate Speaker: ‘Not the right business model’

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) pushed back on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to vacate against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), saying it is “not the right business model.”

“Now Mike Johnson walked into a bad situation,” Comer said Friday in an interview with Fox News’s Martha MacCallum. “It’s gotten a lot worse since he’s been here. But changing Speakers is not the right business model.”

His comments come as Greene has ramped up her threat against the Speaker in light of his efforts to provide additional aid to Ukraine. She filed the motion to vacate against Johnson back in late March and has gained at least three GOP co-sponsors.

Earlier this week, the Georgia Republican said she doesn’t care if the “Speaker’s office becomes a revolving door.” In an appearance on former White House aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, she said she wants “an ‘America First’ economy” and that “we are going to demand it from our Republican leaders.”

Comer appeared to disagree, saying Friday that Johnson should “remain Speaker,” at least until the end of the current session. Then, he said, “we can re-huddle, and decide which direction to go in next year.”

He also acknowledged he thought the motion to vacate that resulted in the historic ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) late last year was a “mistake.” He added that the move “really disrupted” the House Republican Conference in “a bad way.”

Also asked about former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s (R-Ga.) recent comment that the motion to vacate was “totally stupid,” as it would be difficult to find 218 supporters, Comer seemingly agreed, standing behind Johnson.

“But right now, as you mentioned, there’s not going to be another candidate that 100 percent of our conference is gonna rally behind,” the lawmaker said.

Still, Comer said he was opposed to the Ukraine aid provisions within the foreign spending package introduced by Johnson nearly a week ago.

The pressure on the Speaker to pass additional assistance for the embattled country has been strong. With the help of Democrats, to some conservatives’ dismay, the House advanced the group of bills that would send more aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, among other priorities.

“They are different aid bills. With respect to Ukraine, I’m totally opposed to that,” Comer told MacCallum. “I don’t believe the hard-working, tax-paying people in Kentucky want to

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Is Your Business Model Part of Your Innovation Strategy?

June 14, 2023

The theory of disruptive innovation, first introduced in a 1995 HBR article, endures as a way to make a complicated and expensive product simpler and more affordable. Think about how Netflix disrupted video rental stores with video streaming.

But the originator of disruptive innovation, the late Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, argued that disruptive innovation isn’t just about simplifying technology — it also requires a new business model to deliver the solution cost-effectively.

“If you’re actually trying to create a new business model because the world is changing on you, then you don’t want to leverage what’s already in place,” he told IdeaCast guest host Sarah Cliffe in 2008. “The reason why entrant companies so readily beat the incumbents is [that they don’t] have anything that exists that they are tempted to leverage, and so they just create what needs to be created.”

The episode also explains why it’s important to build a disruptive business model that avoids falling into the trap of marginal costs, which can be the difference between success or failure.

Key episode topics include: innovation, disruptive innovation, business models, technology, value proposition, marginal costs, new products, incumbents, new entrants, computer industry, IBM.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

HANNAH BATES: Welcome to HBR On Strategy, case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, hand-selected to help you unlock new ways of doing business. The theory of disruptive innovation, first introduced in 1995 right here at HBR, has proven to be an enduring way to think about innovations that make a complicated and expensive product simpler and more affordable. Think about how Netflix disrupted video rental stores with streaming video.  But the originator of disruptive innovation, Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen, says many managers overlook a crucial component: business model innovation. This episode will help you understand when and how to create a whole new business model for innovative activities – with plenty of real-world examples. And you’ll learn why it’s important to build a disruptive business model that avoids falling into the trap of marginal costs — which can be the difference between success or failure. This episode originally aired on HBR IdeaCast in November 2008. Here it is.

SARAH

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