On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson was set to be removed by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. However, minutes later, Democrats and nearly all Republicans joined forces to decisively oppose Greene’s motion.
As Greene called for a vote and went into detail about her issues with Johnson, the lawmakers in the chamber let out audible boos.
With GOP co-sponsor Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky standing by her side, the Georgia congresswoman claimed Johnson had “not lived up to a single one” of the pledges he made to the Republican conference following his election to the top position in October.
“By passing the Democrats’ agenda and handcuffing the Republicans’ ability and influence legislation, our elected Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country,” Greene stated.
Greene read her resolution as Johnson and his leadership team were on the House floor.
The House promptly proceeded to put a motion on the table to effectively put an end to Greene’s attempt to remove Johnson from office. After bipartisan support, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise raised his hand to call for a vote on tabling Greene’s motion.
Seven MPs cast votes in favor of dismissing Greene’s motion, and the overall vote was 359-43. Following the reading of the tally, lawmakers applauded.
Thirty-two Democrats and eleven Republicans voted against defeating Greene’s motion. Referring to Greene’s resolution as a “misguided effort,” the speaker expressed gratitude to his colleagues for their support.
“Hopefully, this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress. It’s regrettable. It’s not who we are as Americans and we’re better than this. We need to get beyond it,” Johnson stated.
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House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated that the goal of his party’s choice to support Johnson’s employment was to bring back common sense and put an end to the mayhem in Washington.
“Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene, from plunging the House of Representatives and the country into further chaos is rooted in our commitment to solve problems for everyday Americans in a bipartisan manner,” the New York congressman stated to reporters. “We need more common sense and less chaos in Washington, D.C. Marjorie Taylor Greene and extreme MAGA Republicans are chaos agents.”
Frequently questioned about whether Democrats would support Johnson once more in the event that more motions to remove him are made, or if Democrats would require Johnson to make concessions in order to support him in the future, Jeffries responded, “the vote clearly speaks for itself.”
“It was a vote of conscience. It was overwhelming. It was decisive. And we need to move forward as a Congress,” he continued.
When questioned about whether she intended to try to oust Johnson once more, Greene remained silent.
In a post on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump, who supported Johnson during his conflict with Greene, stated that the moment was not right to file for withdrawal.
“If we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything! Mike Johnson is a good man who is trying very hard. I also wish certain things were done over the last period of two months, but we will get them done, together,” he stated.
