(WASHINGTON) — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday officially triggered a vote on her motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, but within minutes Democrats joined almost all Republicans to overwhelmingly reject her move.
There were audible boos from lawmakers in the chamber as Greene spoke at length about her grievances with Johnson as she called for a vote.
The Georgia congresswoman, flanked by co-sponsor GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, asserted Johnson had “not lived up to a single one” of the promises he made the Republican conference after he was elected to the top post in October.
“By passing the Democrats’ agenda and handcuffing the Republicans’ ability and influence legislation, our elected Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country,” Greene said.
Johnson was on the House floor with his leadership team as Greene read her resolution.
The House quickly moved to hold a vote on a motion to table, or effectively kill, Greene’s effort to oust Johnson. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise rose to request the vote on tabling Greene’s resolution, which passed with bipartisan support.
The final vote to dismiss Greene’s motion was 359-43 with seven lawmakers voting present. Lawmakers cheered when the tally was read out.
Eleven Republicans and 32 Democrats voted against killing Greene’s motion.
Johnson joked with reporters after the vote, saying, “it’s just another Wednesday on Capitol Hill.”
The speaker called Greene’s resolution a “misguided effort,” and thanked his colleagues for supporting him.
“Hopefully, this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress. It’s regrettable. It’s not who we are as Americans and we’re better than this. We need to get beyond it,” Johnson said.
Greene told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott after the vote that she was not surprised by the vote against her motion to vacate the speaker’s chair.
“I think this is exactly what the American people needed to see,” she said.
“I didn’t run for Congress to come up here and join the uni-party, and the uni-party was on full display today,” she added. “As a matter of fact, [the Republican Party] proved they’re ready to do everything with the Democrats.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party’s decision to help save Johnson’s job was aimed at restoring common sense and quelling chaos in Washington.
“Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene, from plunging the House of Representatives and the country into further chaos is rooted in our commitment to solve problems for everyday Americans in a bipartisan manner,” the New York congressman told reporters. “We need more common sense and less chaos in Washington, D.C. Marjorie Taylor Greene and extreme MAGA Republicans are chaos agents.”
When asked repeatedly whether Democrats would vote to save Johnson again if further motions to remove him are filed — or if Democrats would demand concessions from Johnson to do so in the future — Jeffries said “the vote clearly speaks for itself.”
“It was a vote of conscience. It was overwhelming. It was decisive. And we need to move forward as a Congress,” he added.
Greene did not answer when asked if she plans on trying to kick out Johnson again.
Former President Donald Trump, who has backed Johnson during his feud with Greene, said in a post on Truth Social that now was not the time to be making motions to vacate.
“If we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything! Mike Johnson is a good man who is trying very hard. I also wish certain things were done over the last period of two months, but we will get them done, together,” he said.
Nevertheless, Greene said she was thankful for Trump’s support.
Greene’s move Wednesday was a sudden shift in tactics after she appeared to be backing off her weekslong threat, following back-to-back meetings with Johnson on Monday and Tuesday.
In between meetings, she had given Johnson a list of demands she wanted implemented, which included no more aid to Ukraine and defunding special counsel Jack Smith’s office.
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