House Democrats expect their members to rescue House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on a motion to vacate introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday.
State of play: With House Republicans holding just 218 seats to Democrats’ 213, it would take only three Republican defections to oust Johnson if all Democrats voted against him.
- That narrow margin was the undoing of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last year, when all Democrats and eight Republicans voted to oust him.
- Greene introduced the motion just as the House was passing a $1.2 trillion spending bill to keep the government funded through September, infuriating hardline Republicans.
What they’re saying: “I think what Leader Jeffries has said is we’re not going to punish anyone for doing the right thing. Today, Johnson did the right thing by funding the government,” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) told Axios.
- Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) told Axios he would vote to protect Johnson, while Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said in a post on X: “I will never stand by and let MTG to take over the people’s House.”
- “I’m not going to let this go to a Congress shutdown, so if my vote mattered, I would vote against the MTV,” another House Democrat told Axios.
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