Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will double down and force a vote on her motion to vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after Democrats announced that they would protect the speaker.
“Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat Speaker of the House. Here is their official endorsement of his Speakership,” Ms. Greene said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, citing a joint statement in which Democrats announced they would bail Mr. Johnson out.
Ms. Greene says she will move to invoke the motion, which would force a vote on the issue.
“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,” Ms. Greene wrote.
“I’m a big believer in recorded votes because putting Congress on record allows every American to see the truth and provides transparency to our votes,” she added. “Americans deserve to see the Uniparty on full display. I’m about to give them their coming out party!”
“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,” Democratic leadership wrote. “We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”
Democrats’ support in tabling the motion would mean that only a handful of Republicans would need to sign on to ensure that Ms. Greene’s motion fails.
“What slimy back room deal did Johnson make for the Democrats’ support?” Ms. Greene wrote.
“He should resign, switch parties, and continue voting for Biden’s open border invasion of America, endless wars, full term abortion on demand, trans agenda on children, warrantless spying on the American people, weaponizing government against President Trump and his supporters, and every other Democrat wishlist item he’s handed over,” she added.
Losing Steam
The push to formally bring the motion to vacate against Mr. Johnson—a threat that has hung over his head for nearly a month—comes as the push to oust the speaker seems to be losing momentum among Republicans.Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the effort to remove Mr. McCarthy, reiterated the sentiment, telling reporters “I oppose a motion to vacate at the current time.”
Asked why he opposed the motion after supporting a similar motion against Mr. Johnson’s predecessor, he told The Epoch Times, “I have at least three members of my caucus that might be susceptible to bribes.”
In the past, Mr. Gaetz has indicated that he didn’t want to pursue a motion to vacate against Mr. Johnson due to fears that it could end in House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) being installed as the speaker.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), who was also involved in the push to boot Mr. McCarthy, agreed.
“It’s very different than a year ago,” he told The Epoch Times.
“Some of it’s simple math,” Mr. Good explained, noting that Republicans now control six fewer seats than the 222 they had coming into the 118th Congress.
He also cited the proximity of the 2024 election, and the willingness of many moderates in the conference to work with Democrats to form what he described as “a coalition government.”
With Democrats announcing their support to save Mr. Johnson, Ms. Greene’s motion to vacate—and likely any similar motions in the future of the 118th Congress—seems likely to fail by a broad margin.
When Ms. Greene brings the motion to the floor, leadership will be required to hold a vote on it within a few days.
At that point, a member will bring a motion to table the measure which is all but guaranteed to succeed, averting a formal vote on the issue altogether.
