House Tables Motion to Remove Speaker Johnson

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Facts

  • The US House on Wednesday retained Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as speaker when it voted 359-43 to table a motion to vacate the chair 15 minutes after it was introduced.1
  • The motion put forward by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was rejected with unprecedented bipartisanship, as members of a minority party had never voted in favor of the other party's speaker. But all but 39 Democrats joined with all but 11 Republicans to maintain Johnson in his post.2
  • Greene's motion accused Johnson of failing to live up to his promises to advance the Republicans' agenda and instead choosing to 'ally himself with Democrats.' Democratic leadership promised to protect Johnson after he helped pass a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.3
  • Greene, who was booed during her Wednesday speech on the House floor, put a positive spin on the defeat of her motion with a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying, 'the good news this morning is now the American people have been shown the truth' about Democrats allegedly viewing Johnson as someone they can control.4
  • Previously, Greene was among a group of Republicans who in October 2023 used the same procedure to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker — the first time in US history the body voted to remove its leader.5

Sources: 1USA Today, 2New York Times, 3Daily Caller, 4BBC News and 5Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. In these partisan times, Greene managed to unite both sides of the political aisle, as she was booed and heckled leading up to her advancing of the motion to vacate. This was a victory for Congress over those who want dysfunction, and Greene should tone down her act.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by PJ Media. The House has unity, but at what cost? Johnson now owes the Democrats for his survival as Speaker. There's no telling what policies will result now that he's beholden to the opposition party moving forward.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News. This is not the time for removing the speaker and continuing any divisions in the Republican Party. It's crucial that the GOP shows a unified face while it competes with the radical-left Democrats. There are important elections coming up and a chance for a unified Republican Party to grow its House majority and retake the Senate.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. Democrats were shrewd to show America it's the mature, responsible party at this point and time — in contrast to the chaos of the GOP. But Democrats also know that a replacement for Johnson would probably be someone from Green's wing of the party who wouldn't be as easy to work with. So the Democrats and a functioning Congress are the big winners.

Predictions