The News
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is signaling she’ll pull the trigger on a motion to remove Speaker Mike Johnson, after Democratic leaders vowed that they would block any vote to oust him.
“If the Democrats want to elect him Speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen Speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it,” Greene, who has bitterly feuded with Johnson over issues including the budget and Ukraine, posted to X. “I’m a big believer in recorded votes.”
In a joint statement Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar ended weeks of speculation by confirming that their party would chip in to save Johnson from a no-confidence vote. Johnson has faced the prospect of a showdown over his job since last month, when Taylor Greene introduced a motion to vacate him from the speaker’s chair. Some individual Democrats, such as Rep. Tom Suozzi, had previously said they would vote to stop the measure. But most appeared to be waiting for a signal from leadership before making any commitments, even after Johnson worked with Democrats to finally pass a bipartisan deal on Ukraine aid through Congress.
“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” the Democratic leaders said in their statement. In it, the trio promised that they would vote to table Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate, effectively stopping it dead. “If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”
A Democratic leadership source said that Johnson did not know ahead of time that Jeffries and his deputies planned to release the letter, but he was aware they were possibly interested in providing him “with a safe landing.”
The source added that Democrats saw a motion to table as more palatable than backing Johnson outright in a floor fight. “Leadership wanted to give Democratic members a less nuclear option while avoiding the appearance of whipping a vote to save another Republican speaker,” they said.
New Democrats Chair Annie Kuster told Semafor that her party would block any motion to vacate Johnson “as long as we’re working in good faith, and he’s dealing as an honest broker.”
It is unclear how much support Greene had within her own party to challenge Johnson. She has only been able to attract two other cosponsors on her motion to vacate, Reps. Thomas Massie and Paul Gosar. Other Republicans expressed little interest in participating in another party revolt six months after Kevin McCarthy lost his seat through the same procedure which knocked the House into a perilous three-week speakerless jaunt.
Joseph Zeballos-Roig contributed reporting