The potential for a fresh round of chaos has lingered over Washington for weeks now, as conservatives have seethed over Speaker Mike Johnson’s willingness to rely on Democratic votes to prevent paralysis in the House. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., announced Wednesday that she will make good on her threatened ouster attempt against him next week. There’s just one thing standing in her way: House Democrats.
It may seem downright bizarre that Democratic leaders would put out a statement pledging to defend a Republican speaker. But their decision to publicly back Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday and the timing of their declaration show exactly the sort of long-term strategic thinking that Greene has struggled with. As it turns out, her choice to follow through on her threat is a major boost to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his leverage over the House’s proceedings.
It may seem downright bizarre that Democratic leaders would put out a statement pledging to defend a Republican speaker.
The catalyst for the latest tempest is last month’s series of votes to finally get a Ukraine aid package through the House. Greene had warned Johnson that this would be a red line for her, filing what’s known as a “motion to vacate” in March. She followed that up with a five-page letter ripping into Johnson that my colleague Zeeshan Aleem described as “more about her burnishing her credentials as a MAGA mutineer than it is about critiquing Johnson in a productive manner.”
Greene’s warnings went unheeded — and unsupported, it turns out. Only two co-sponsors have signed on to her motion. To be fair, that is more than initially put their names to the motion that removed Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in October. But there’s been little appetite from even the usually pugnacious House Freedom Caucus to back Greene’s play.
But even if more of the GOP’s far right wanted to oust Johnson, Democrats would still have to provide the bulk of the votes against him. Until this week, they kept their powder dry on what they’d do if Greene followed through on her threats. While some moderates had indicated they might be willing to support Johnson, officially the caucus was waiting for Jeffries to call the play. That was the case last year, as well, as McCarthy faced down a potential coup from a small band of GOP upstarts. It was Jeffries who made the call to have his members vote against McCarthy, alongside just eight Republicans, guaranteeing his removal.
McCarthy sealed his fate with a record of reneging on deals that earned him Democrats’ ire. In contrast, Johnson has been square in his dealings, even if it took longer than many preferred for him to pass the foreign aid package. Still, Jeffries took even House Democrats by surprise with how quickly the leadership team issued a statement of support for Johnson after a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday. “At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” the statement concluded. “We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”
The move seems to have incensed Greene enough for her to finally act. She accused Johnson of cutting a “slimy backroom deal” with Democrats to remain in power. Johnson, for his part, seemed unaware of the show of support, which was released as he was in the middle of a news conference, and he insisted that no deal had been made. But even with the new Republican National Committee chair, Michael Whatley, reportedly urging her not to proceed, Greene vowed to press forward.
“Now we have Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats coming out, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet, sloppy kiss,” Greene said Wednesday. “Why? Because Mike Johnson is giving them everything they want.” That’s a bit of an exaggeration of where Democrats are coming from. They know that the current speaker isn’t a long-term ally. If anything, the decision to back Johnson now had the effect of drawing Greene into a battle she can’t win.
If anything, the decision to back Johnson now had the effect of drawing Greene into a battle she can’t win.
In the short term, the play from Democrats could easily have been to let them fight, basking in the chaos among their enemies. After all, there’s nothing on the legislative calendar over the summer that stands a chance of getting through both houses of Congress that demands immediate attention. Democrats could have simply chosen to be absent for any vote, leaving it to Johnson to ensure he has a majority of the GOP caucus on his side. It would embarrass Greene if her fellow MAGA die-hards rallied to support him despite his supposed betrayal, and, should she somehow succeed, three more speaker-less weeks would only bolster the message that Republicans can’t be trusted to govern.
But there’s more than altruism at work here from Democrats. In pledging their votes to table Greene’s motion, they’ve managed to free up more Republicans who want to show their displeasure with Johnson to do so without consequences. That, in turn, will highlight once more how little he’d be able to get done without the minority party between now and November. That matters because government funding for this current fiscal year — which was approved only in March thanks to the GOP’s chaos — runs dry in September. By keeping Johnson in place now and the appropriations process moving through the summer, Democrats will have more of a hand in preventing the kind of deep cuts that conservatives have demanded.
I can imagine that Greene and other arch-conservatives might urge Johnson to hold out on shepherding spending bills that Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden can support through the House, in the hopes of a massive GOP win in the fall. But nobody who actually cares about winning or keeping a majority wants to be the reason for a federal shutdown right before Election Day. It will most likely fall on Democrats once again to save Johnson from his own caucus in that case. If that’s the case, it’ll be yet another addition to the debt that Greene’s latest stunt has only increased — and one that Jeffries will make sure Johnson pays.
