My colleague Jeff Charles reported on Sunday that Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) “might be inclined” to support House Speaker Mike Johnson against the GOP faction of Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to remove him as House Speaker.
Advertisement
Charles wrote:
Johnson has managed to anger the conservative faction of House Republicans on multiple occasions, not only supporting more taxpayer funding of other countries but also casting the tiebreaking vote against an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that would allow federal agencies to conduct surveillance on American citizens without a warrant.
[…]
But there is reason to believe that if Greene and Massie undertake this effort, it probably won’t turn out as it did for McCarthy.
Now, California Rep. Ro Khanna, a flaming progressive by any definition of the word, may well come to Johnson’s rescue.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) defended Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sunday, saying he “deserves to keep his job” as he faces down a threat to remove him after backing aid for Ukraine and Israel.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) leads a group of three GOP members who have signed onto a motion to vacate the Speakership, a move which could throw the House into chaos for the second time in a year.
Khanna is among the Democrats who have said he could not support such a motion after Johnson allowed a vote for Ukraine and Israel aid totaling $95 billion, which passed Saturday.
Advertisement
I would say this is the very reason that Johnson moved forward with the vote for the $96 billion foreign aid package. Johnson understood better than anyone that should Greene move forward with her motion to vacate, the only thing that could save his bacon is Democrats voting against his ouster . Greene has been demanding that Johnson resign his position, but despite being backed by Massie, Gosar, and now even Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), she appears to be equivocating on exactly when she plans to complete her steps to remove Johnson.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Sunday said her motion to vacate the Speakership is “coming” no matter what House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) decides to do, while also dodging questions about an alternative plan if he is booted.
“Mike Johnson’s Speakership is over. He needs to do the right thing to resignand allow us to move forward in a controlled process, and if he doesn’t do so, he will be vacated,” she said Sunday on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo then asked if Greene plans to move forward with her motion to vacate, which she introduced last month. She has not yet brought the vote to the House floor or indicated what might prompt her to do so.
“It’s coming regardless of what Mike Johnson decides to do. And we have three more Republicans joining us for a special election coming up very soon. So, people need to know this can happen,” Greene responded.
Advertisement
Khanna stated clearly that he would not be on board with removing Johnson and that he should be able to keep his job until the end of his term. Khanna could well be playing the political long game, believing that Democrats will secure the House majority in November. Khanna may also have his own sights set on majority leadership.
“I would actually vote to table any motion to vacate him,” he added.
The progressive is known for his penchant to go out on his own, but he said that other progressives could also be willing to throw in votes to save Johnson from an ouster.
“I’m a progressive Democrat, and I think you would have a few progressive Democrats doing that,” he said. “And I disagree with Speaker Johnson on many issues and have been very critical of him. But he did the right thing here, and he deserves to keep his job until the end of this term.”
As for the trifecta seeking to remove Johnson, Gosar and Greene have exhibited fractious relations with their fellow members; so, their ability to rally consensus to their cause is suspect. None have bothered to present a plan on who will be a credible House Speaker candidate should a vote to remove Johnson be successful. According to reports, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the architect of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s demise, has floated Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) name as a potential speaker candidate. However, Gaetz appeared on Sebastian Gorka’s Salem News Channel program on Friday to say despite his problems with House Speaker Mike Johnson, he could not support a motion to vacate at this time.
Advertisement
The drama among House Republicans continues, and the American people are the worse for it.