A pair of House conservatives plan to force a vote next week to eject Speaker Mike Johnson following a pledge by top Democrats to help save the Republican’s job.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, and Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, said the vote will show that Mr. Johnson is essentially “sharing power” with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries if he is only able to remain speaker with help of Democratic votes.
“We are coming back, and we are voting on this next week,” Mr. Massie said.
The pair of Republicans said Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, has capitulated to the demands of Democrats on critical legislation and is in a weak position that was further compromised when Mr. Jeffries and his two top deputies announced they would vote to block Ms. Greene’s move to eject him.
“Mike Johnson is sharing the gavel, they are holding it together,” Ms. Greene told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday.
Mr. Johnson quickly issued a statement condemning the move.
“This motion is wrong for the Republican conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement they will vote against an arcane motion to “vacate the chair” that Ms. Greene has been threatening to bring up on the House floor.
“If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,” said Mr. Jeffries, of New York.
The announcement infuriated Ms. Greene and Mr. Massie, who huddled in the House parliamentarian’s office, signaling they did not plan to give up their bid to kick out Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Massie said Democratic support for Mr. Johnson represents “the coming out of the uni-party.”
It would be unprecedented for Democrats to vote for a Republican speaker.
Bringing up the motion to vacate, Mr. Massie and Ms. Greene said, will force lawmakers in both parties to decide if they want to be complicit in such an unusual and politically risky collaboration.
“I can’t wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican speaker and have to go on to a primary and have to run for Congress again, having supported a Republican speaker, a Christian conservative, I think that’ll play well,” Ms. Greene said. “I’m excited about it. And I also can’t wait to see my Republican conference show their cards and show who we are. Because voters deserve it.”
Mr. Massie said he is hoping Mr. Johnson will resign by next week and that others in the GOP conference will talk him into stepping down.
It’s more likely that the motion will be quickly tabled in a bipartisan vote that will be backed by all but a few Republicans.
Most, if not nearly all House Republicans, want to avoid a vote to remove Mr. Johnson, and many want to change the rule that allows one lawmaker to bring up the motion to oust the speaker.
The rule made it possible last year for a faction of eight conservative Republicans to remove their previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy, thanks to the votes of all Democrats. Mr. McCarthy’s sudden removal threw the chamber into chaos for weeks as Republicans fought over a successor.
They finally agreed on Mr. Johnson and Rep. Ralph Norman, South Carolina Republican and member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said there is no appetite among the group to throw him out, especially with the November election looming.
The GOP caucus, Mr. Norman said, “knows we’ve got other important issues, like getting Trump elected.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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