He’s facing an official motion to vacate his seat.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is having a very stressful time. He riled the conservative flank of his party by supporting last month’s bipartisan spending deal, and now, he’s facing an official motion to vacate his seat. Here’s the latest.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files an official motion to oust Johnson
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion for Johnson to vacate his seat before the recess break. She was acting in response to him putting a bipartisan spending deal on the House floor — and though she’s yet to push for a vote on the issue, that threat hangs over Johnson’s head.
“I filed the motion to vacate today, but it’s more of a warning and a pink slip,” she told the press.
Johnson responds to the conservative threat
Johnson addressed the situation publicly for the first time on Easter Sunday, calling it a “distraction from our mission” on Fox News. He described Greene as a “friend,” and said they planned to meet in the next few days. Johnson’s also reportedly conferred with GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida — who led the charge to oust the last GOP Speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
“I gave the speaker some unsolicited advice. That we’ve got to get into a fighting posture. And I was very pleased with how the speaker received that advice,” Gaetz told CNN. “The speaker wants to put wins on the board for House Republicans, and we better start doing that.”
A looming argument over Ukraine spending
Johnson’s walking a tightrope, with a very narrow GOP majority in the House, and another highly contentious policy issue on the horizon: funding for Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
Gaetz made it clear that Johnson’s success in winning over the GOP to Ukraine spending will hinge on his ability to offset it with cuts elsewhere. “I think we need to not deficit-spend to fund Ukraine. I also think that we need to have our own border prioritized,” he told CNN.
Rep. Don Bacon warned that Johnson may face a vote to oust him if he attempts to pass Ukraine aid. “I’m not going to deny it,” he told NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday. “We have one or two people that are not team players.” He stressed that with such a slim GOP majority, it would only take a couple of dissenters to make a minority.
