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It was nearly a month ago when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, reversing her earlier position, launched an effort to oust her party’s House speaker. In the days and weeks that followed, a grand total of zero Republicans signed on to the right-wing Georgian’s effort, leading to speculation that Speaker Mike Johnson might never have to deal with a vote on his fate.
The winds have shifted direction quickly. On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky signed onto Greene’s motion-to-vacate measure, and today, the duo became a trio. NBC News reported:
A third House Republican has signed onto an effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson from power, giving his opponents the votes they’d need to remove the Republican leader unless Democrats stepped in to save him. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., signed onto the “motion to vacate” authored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., both Republicans said Friday.
According to some accounts, the number of Republicans prepared to kick Johnson out of the speaker’s office is likely to inch higher soon.
Following up on our coverage from a few days ago, in a chamber with more than 400 members, the fact that a few want to depose Johnson might seem trivial, but the legislative arithmetic remains highly relevant: With one GOP member scheduled to resign in the coming days, the House Republicans’ conference will shrink to just 217 members, leaving party leaders with a one-vote margin.
If Greene were to force a vote on the House speaker’s fate, she’d have more than enough votes to oust Johnson — if Democrats were to vote against him the same way they voted against then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October.
If, on the other hand, members of the Democratic minority were to rescue the incumbent GOP leader — a dynamic that keeps coming up — Johnson would almost certainly keep his gavel, though he’d be weakened badly, and his dependence on Democratic support would complicate his future.
In case that weren’t quite enough, there’s also the question of what, exactly, Democrats might expect from the House speaker in exchange for rescuing him. Would passage of security aid suffice? Would that only be part of a larger Democratic wish list?
For his part, the incumbent House speaker told reporters this week that he wouldn’t resign, adding, “I am not concerned about this.” Watch this space.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.