The House promptly voted on Wednesday night to defeat Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from his position as leader.
The most significant threat to the Louisiana Republican’s speakership has ended, at least for the time being, with the overwhelming vote in support of Johnson, which was facilitated by Democrats.
The unsuccessful attempt at removal provides Johnson with an opportunity to say that it is time to move on to other matters while he navigates a razor-thin majority; but, Johnson’s right wing may criticize him harder if Democrats back him.
Following the vote, Johnson had a brief interview with reporters during which he referred to Greene’s campaign against him as “misguided” and thanked colleagues for their “show of confidence” in his ability to lead.
“I would like to express my gratitude for my colleagues’ confidence in defeating this misguided endeavor,” he remarked. “As I have stated here on a daily basis, I plan to carry out my duties and do the right thing, as I was elected to do. I’ll let the cards fall where they may as well.
For weeks, Greene had been threatening to call for a vote against the speaker, a move that deepened splits within the House GOP conference because many members were against Johnson being removed.
Following a historic and unprecedented vote by conservative hardliners to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Johnson was elected speaker of the House last year. This vote caused a turbulent period of infighting as Republicans tried to unite around a new leader before finally uniting around the Louisiana Republican.
By a vote of 359 to 43 on Wednesday, the House decided to table, or kill, Greene’s attempt to remove Johnson. Eleven Republicans abstained from the tabling vote.
Following Johnson’s efforts to override hardline conservatives’ objections and enact a significant foreign aid package, the Democratic leadership in the House declared that Democrats would support Johnson in his bid to retain his position by voting to table.
Even though former President Donald Trump urged members to vote to kill Johnson’s resolution, Greene did not rule out forcing another vote against her in the future on Wednesday night. He also suggested that a statement from Trump on Truth Social may support the possibility of a motion to vacate at some point.
When CNN’s Manu Raju pressed Greene about whether she would call for a vote once more this Congress, she did not respond directly but instead stated that she is “appreciative” of Trump’s backing and cited his statement on Truth Social suggesting that Republicans might have to vote on a motion to vacate “at some point.”
According to Greene, “He also mentioned that we might have to move, and that’s something that people should be aware of.”
When asked if she thought President Trump was incorrect to encourage members to vote in favor of a table, the lawmaker replied, “I support President Trump.” I back President Trump. I’ve discussed this with him every day.
Republicans in the House were taken aback
Earlier this week, Greene met with Johnson and Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky over a few days. During their meeting, Greene expressed her concerns with Johnson’s leadership and her priorities. As the House was about to adjourn for the week, Greene raised her motion to remove herself from the chair, initiating a clock of two legislative days for the Republican leaders to convene a vote on her proposal.
Greene’s decision to start her motion caught House Republicans off guard, various Republican sources told CNN. The sources further stated that the GOP leadership did not anticipate this and believed that there was still some time before any further actions were done following the two fruitful meetings between Johnson and Greene.