Liam Conner
Washington –Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene followed through on her threat to try to recall House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday, calling for a vote on a motion to vacate the speaker from the House floor that lawmakers quickly voted to introduce — i.e. to kill him – in a stunning scene that marked a major reversal from the previous day – and put an end to the threat hanging over the speaker.
“The form of the resolution is this: declare the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives vacant,” the Georgia Republican said, as many in the House booed her. “This is the one-party party for the American people to watch.”
Shortly after Greene advanced the motion, triggering an instant vote, the House voted 359 to 43 to table the motion. Most Democrats joined House Republicans in doing so.
The move marked a reversal from the previous day, when Greene appeared to backtrack on her threat to trigger a vote to remove Johnson.
“Right now the ball is in Mike Johnson’s court,” Greene said after meeting with the House speaker on Tuesday.
But Greene pushed ahead Wednesday night and in doing so set up an early vote expected to take place within two legislative days on whether Johnson should remain president.
Greene had the public support of only two other House Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona. Meanwhile, Democrats vowed to bail out Johnson after he introduced a foreign aid bill in the House last month.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries explained in “60 minutes“why would Democrats be willing to save Johnson’s speakership. “Our view would traditionally be, ‘Let the other side sort out its own mess,'” Jeffries said. “But when that mess starts to impact the ability to to do the work on behalf of the American people, then the responsibility at this point may be to make it clear that we will not allow extremists to throw Congress and the country into chaos.”
He also suggested that given the slim majority Johnson has as president, House Democrats are enormously powerful. “Even though we are in the minority, we have effectively governed as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide the majority of votes needed to get things done,” he said. “Those are just the facts.”
Greene has been threatening Johnson since March, when she first filed the motion to vacate. Johnson met with Greene on two occasions over a period of days this week, where she said she made a list of demands to step down. And Greene has faced intense pressure from her Republican colleagues to reverse course.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
