Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to seek a vote for House Speaker Mike Johnson’s expulsion unless he resigned, accusing Johnson of “betraying” Republican voters following the House’s approval of increased aid to Ukraine.
Mike Johnson’s term as speaker has come to an end. He should step down and let us proceed in a regulated manner; it would be the appropriate thing to do. On Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Greene warned that he would be removed from office until he did this.
A $95 billion foreign aid package, including $61 billion for Ukraine and neighboring partners, was advanced on Saturday by Johnson and Democrats after months of opposition to bringing such a measure to the House floor. The measure, which garnered support from 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans, will now be sent to the Senate for final approval, which is anticipated to be granted this week.
If Greene and her followers follow through on their plan to remove him from office through a vote, Johnson will likely have to depend on Democrats to save him.
Because Johnson’s majority is so thin, he cannot afford to lose any Republicans on a party-line vote—and the Georgia hardliner is one of at least three Republicans who have stated their support for a motion to remove Johnson.
While Johnson insists he has not approached any Democrats for assistance, senior Republicans are confident they can quickly veto any move to remove the speaker from office because they have the support of both parties. This may have given Johnson the confidence to move forward with his plans.
Whether Democrats will offer Trump a helping hand is still up in the air. However, they have shown a readiness to rescue Johnson, particularly following his rejection of his right flank and his swift action on a foreign assistance plan that is strikingly similar to one that was enacted by the Senate.
On Sunday, Rep. Ro Khanna stated his intention to vote against a resolution that would remove Johnson from his position as speaker. Khanna stated on ABC’s “This Week” that she is a progressive Democrat and that she believes there would be some progressive Democrats who would do it.
Speaker Johnson deserves to remain his job till the end of this term, even though he has been extremely critical of him and I disagree with him on many topics, said the California Democrat, who added that “not everything in politics needs to be transactional.”
When questioned on Sunday about the delay in submitting the request to vacate, Greene stated that she has “been responsible with this the entire time” and hinted that the move will take place.
The betrayals of Mike Johnson made all of this possible, according to Greene.
Efforts to unseat Johnson were downplayed by him on Saturday night. “I don’t walk around this building being worried about a motion to vacate,” he remarked following the passage of the foreign aid package.
“I need to get my work done….” In this case, I have followed my conscience and let the House do its will. And like I said before, you do the right thing and then everything else falls into place.