The top three Democratic leaders in the House announced Tuesday they will vote to block a rogue House Republican from moving to oust GOP Speaker Mike Johnson.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement they will vote against an arcane motion to “vacate the chair” that GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to bring up on the House floor.
“If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,” said Mr. Jeffries of New York.
House lawmakers have been awaiting Ms. Greene’s next move. She has been threatening to bring up the motion and, with the expectation that all Democrats would vote along with her, it would pass and end Mr. Johnson‘s speakership.
The House would then be thrown into chaos as GOP lawmakers would struggle to elect a replacement.
Ms. Greene, of Georgia, is unhappy about legislation that Mr. Johnson has ushered through the House with the help of Democrats, including a massive government spending bill and most recently a foreign aid package that lacked any U.S. border security measures.
Now that the trio of Democratic leaders has vowed to block Ms. Greene, her leverage has been practically eliminated. Ms. Greene was a no-show Monday night for votes in the House.
Democrats have been debating for weeks whether to vote to save Mr. Johnson if Ms. Greene brought the motion to a vote. Many Democrats told The Washington Times their support would hinge on Mr. Johnson pushing through the security package, which provided funding for Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, funding for Israel’s war against the terrorist organization Hamas, and humanitarian aid for civilians impacted by the war.
In October, all Democrats voted with eight Republicans, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, to invoke a similar motion which removed then-GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It left the chamber unable to legislate for weeks while Republicans fought over a replacement before they finally elected Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican.
Democrats say Mr. Johnson has worked with them on passing bipartisan legislation and they are now willing to help save him against his far-right flank.
“From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have put people over politics and found bipartisan common ground with traditional Republicans in order to deliver real results. At the same time, House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against MAGA extremism. We will continue to do just that,” the Democrats said in the statement.