As CNN reports this morning, existential chaos is brewing in the narrowly GOP-controlled U.S. House for a third time in less than a year:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a motion to oust Mike Johnson from the speakership, according to sources familiar with the matter, amid anger about the government funding bill.
The House would have to consider Greene’s motion within two legislative days after she is recognized. The chamber heads to recess for two weeks on Friday afternoon.
As the New York Times reports, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate the speaker’s chair came after passage this morning of a spending agreement brokered between Speaker Mike Johnson and the White House, narrowly averting a shutdown that would otherwise have begun this weekend:
The House on Friday passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September and avert a partial shutdown at the end of the week, setting off a G.O.P. mutiny that threatened Speaker Mike Johnson’s grasp on the gavel.
In a 286-134 vote that came down to the wire, Democrats rallied to provide the support to overcome a furious swell of opposition by conservative Republicans.
Infuriated by the painstakingly negotiated bipartisan legislation to keep funding flowing for government agencies including the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, the hard right revolted, and as the vote was still ongoing, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia began the process of threatening a snap vote to oust Mr. Johnson, according to a person familiar with her plans who requested anonymity to describe her thinking.
We haven’t heard as of this writing whether or not Rep. Lauren Boebert will be joining her archrival in calling for Johnson’s head, but it’s obviously more complicated for Boebert given Johnson’s endorsement of Boebert in the CO-04 primary. Boebert nonetheless has left the door open to replacing Johnson in previous moments of tension, so we’ll have to see where she lands over the upcoming recess. With the House headed for a two-week recess, MTG’s motion to dump Mike Johnson will now fester in the court of public opinion before lawmakers reconvene to consider it–which again, after the concessions granted by now-ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, they must.
All we can say for the least productive Congress of our lifetime is, it’s a good day to no longer give a Buck.
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Isn't he the dude who endorsed HoBo? Asking for a friend.
Why yes, Mike Johnson (the one WITHOUT a T) is trying to influence the local Republicans selecting a candidate for the 4th District, preferring "an incumbent" from a different district to any of the locals.
I'm hoping an enterprising media representative will take the time to ask each of the candidates in the special election for their position, whether they would vote for MTG's resolution to vacate the chair or not. Whether this resolution wins or loses, I suspect that the winner of the election will have a chance to vote on ANOTHER motion before the November election.
Matt Gaetz has come out against the motion to vacate, saying that given the thinness of their majority (i.e., two), he fears that a new speaker election could result in a Dem winning. So, even the crackpot caucus is not joining her in this.
Jeffries has given indications that most Dems would vote to keep Johnson although I'm sure that some concessions would be expected (i.e., a vote of Ukraine aid).
A couple more resignations and a Motion to Vacate won’t be necessary. (Buck has indicated there are three more behind him)
Implications spelled out in a bit more detail on Daily Kos, here
Won't be filled until the successor is sworn in next January
"but the fact that he didn’t has to make you wonder whether his timing was deliberate"
Like Ken Buck, he knew precisely what he was doing and who he was doing it to!
Sounds like time for a "Dems are in disarray" story by the lapdog media.
This is a fund-raising ploy by MTG, nothing more. She can go home to her district over break and milk the rubes, telling them she's so mad about the "swamp" that she's voted to drain it again.