Well, that didn’t take long.
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s long-delayed drive to unseat House Speaker Mike Johnson was emphatically defeated Wednesday moments after she introduced it, with members of both parties voting to kill the effort.
The House voted 359-43 against taking up Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion, with 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats voting to keep the gavel in the hands of the 52-year-old Johnson.
“I appreciate the show of confidence from my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort. That is certainly what it was,” Johnson (R-La.) told reporters after the vote.
“Hopefully, this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress,” he added. “In this moment, the country desperately needs a functioning Congress. And that’s what the overwhelming majority of the members of this body demonstrated today.”
Thirty-two Democrats and just 11 Republicans voted to take up the motion to vacate, with seven House members voting present.
Greene had initially filed the motion against Johnson on March 22, but held off on formally bringing it forward for weeks.
On Monday, Greene and her chief ally, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), huddled with Johnson in his office for about two hours to lay out their demands.
Those stipulations, which Greene made public Tuesday, included that Johnson cut off further US aid funding for Ukraine, return to individual government spending bills and defund Justice Department prosecutions of former President Donald Trump, and pledge to only put bills on the floor that had a majority of Republican support. among other stipulations.
Ironically, the Georgian’s own motion to vacate the chair fell far short of a Republican majority.
Had Greene’s effort not been tabled, it would have had to be voted on within two legislative days, but House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) moved to set the measure aside right after it was read into the record by the House clerk.
Following Johnson’s Monday meeting with Greene, he publicly declared that the standoff was “not a negotiation.” The two met again Tuesday with no sign of what was to come.
Greene rose in the packed House chamber to read her resolution just after the House had started its final vote series of the week — and was promptly showered with boos from both sides of the aisle.
“This is what the uniparty looks like,” a grimacing Greene shot back as Massie looked on approvingly next to her.
The outcome of the vote had been determined last week after House Democratic leadership announced it would support tabling any motion to remove Johnson from the speakership.
On Oct. 3, 208 Democrats joined eight Republicans to oust Johnson’s predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), which led to 22 days of paralysis in the lower chamber before the Pelican Stater was chosen.
The vote against McCarthy marked the only time a sitting House Speaker was ousted by his own party via a motion to vacate the chair.
But Democrats had grown frustrated with Johnson’s intra-GOP enemies and were pleased with his decision to take up a vote last month on a $61 billion Ukraine aid package that appeared to be the last straw for Greene.
“Our elected Republican Speaker, Mike Johnson, has aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country,” she groused on the House floor.
Former President Donald Trump had talked to Greene and privately urged her to stand down, not wanting more chaos among congressional Republicans during an election year.
However, Greene insisted that she was looking after the 45th president’s best interest by pursuing Johnson.
“I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s got Spirit, she’s got Fight, and I believe she’ll be around, and on our side, for a long time to come,” Trump posted on Truth Social after her revolt went up in flames.
“However, right now, Republicans have to be fighting the Radical Left Democrats, and all the Damage they have done to our Country. With a Majority of One, shortly growing to three or four, we’re not in a position of voting on a Motion to Vacate.”
Still, Trump did not rule out backing such a move “at some point,” while making sure to praise Johnson as “a good man who is trying very hard.”
In addition to Greene and Massie, the nine Republicans who voted against tabling the motion to vacate were Andy Biggs of Arizona, Eric Burlison of Missouri, Eli Crane of Arizona, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Alex Mooney of West Virginia, Barry Moore of Alabama, Chip Roy of Texas and Victoria Spartz of Indiana.
Prominent Democrats who voted to move forward with ousting Johnson included Jamaal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Greg Casar of Texas, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Maxine Waters of California.
Three other New York Democrats — Yvette Clark, Pat Ryan, and Nydia Velazquez — also voted to take up Greene’s motion, as did Robert Menendez Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman, both Democrats of New Jersey.
