House Democratic leaders announce they would save Johnson

Post Reply New Topic

House Democratic leadership announced on Tuesday that if a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson is brought to the House floor for a vote, they would vote to table the effort -- effectively saving the speaker from ouster. Less than an hour later, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated that she will trigger a move to oust Johnson to put members on the record.

Greene introduced a motion to vacate the speaker's chair last month. Her push to remove Johnson came after a vote to fund the government to prevent a shutdown -- which Johnson needed Democratic votes to pass.

"We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed," the leaders wrote in a statement.

This means Democrats have now put it on the record that they would save Johnson if a motion to vacate is brought to the floor for a vote.

Greene -- who had not provided a timeline or any insight into if she will make the motion to vacate resolution privileged, meaning it would force the House to take it up at some point -- signaled in a post on X shortly after the Democrats' announcement that she will force a floor vote to remove Johnson from the speakership.

"Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat Speaker of the House. Here is their official endorsement of his Speakership," Rep. Greene said in a statement on X, citing the statement from House Democratic leadership.

Greene said he should "resign" or "switch parties."

Johnson reacted to the Democrats' statement Tuesday morning, denying that he cut a deal with the Democrats to save his job.

"The first I have heard of it," Johnson said when asked about the statement. "Look, I have to do my job."

Johnson said "no" when asked if he spoke to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about receiving Democratic support if a motion to vacate is brought to the floor for a vote -- and if that conversation happened before allowing votes on a $95 billion foreign aid package, a move that earned him bipartisan praise.

"I've not requested assistance from anyone ... I'm not focused on that at all. I focused on getting the job done and getting the legislation passed," Johnson said.

"No, there's no deals at all," he added.

Pressed on if he would be comfortable leading Congress by having support of Democrats -- a tactic that landed his predecessor Kevin McCarthy in hot water and eventually contributed to his ouster -- Johnson said he aims to work with all in the House while maintaining his conservative values.

"Listen, I am the Speaker of the House -- serves the whole body. I'm a conservative Republican, a lifelong conservative Republican. That's what my philosophy is. That's what my record is and will continue to govern on those principles. I mean, you know, you hope you have the support of everyone the entire country," he said.

While Greene pushes to oust Johnson, many Republicans tell ABC News that they are not on board with her effort. Greene's effort comes in an election year, when many Republicans do not seem interested in engaging in another speakership battle that could project uncertainty in their conference.

I feel the Democratic Party realize the purpose of the House is to serve the people of the US. MAGA people want to turn it into a clown show. Until the Republican Party exorcises the MAGA people and becomes normal again the Democratic Party is being forced to be "the adult" in the room.