MTG Files Motion To Vacate The Speakership
Its like déjà vu all over again.
Less than six months after Republicans forced Kevin McCarthy out as Speaker of The House and elected Mike Johnson as the new Speaker, the Republican party may be about to do the same to Speaker Johnson. Earlier today, frustrated with Johnson’s decision to move forward with a vote on Minibus spending bill, Marjorie Taylor Greene moved forward with a threat to file a motion to again vacate the speakership.
It was not immediately clear how the House would act on her motion, which requires just a majority vote to remove the speaker. Greene, R-Ga., did not file the motion as privileged — which would force a vote within two legislative days — but instead as a regular motion, which could be referred to a committee, where it would likely languish.
Greene told reporters that the motion to vacate was “more of a warning than a pink slip,” saying she does not want to “throw the House into chaos,” like the three and a half weeks that the chamber was without a speaker when McCarthy was ousted.
“I’m not saying that it won’t happen in two weeks or it won’t happen in a month or who knows when. But I am saying the clock has started. It’s time for our conference to choose a new speaker,” she said.
source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-files-motion-oust-mike-johnson-house-speake-rcna134385
As coverage notes, MTG’s decision to file this as a regular motion just as the House leaves for recess makes the situation a little less urgent for Speaker Johnson. However, as John Bresnahan from Punchbowl news notes, the Speaker is not at all out of the woods:
Speaker Johnson faces a different set of circumstances than John Boehner did in the fall of 2015. As such, it’s unlikely that Johnson would resign. As a reminder, in 2015 it required multiple members to advance a motion to vacate. That changed in 2024 when McCarthy agreed to update the rules so that a single member could make a motion to vacate in return for getting the Speakership. It was that rules change that ultimately undid McCarthy.
So are we about to see a repeat of last fall? Probably not. CBS’s Scott MacFarlane is reporting that whereas McCarthy had alienated Democrats to the degree that they wouldn’t save him from his own caucus, the members of the opposition party are open to keeping Johnson as Speaker:
This puts Speaker Johnson in a challenging position. If he advances any Ukraine or Border package from the Senate, he will definitely face more motions to vacate from the right wing of his party (not to mention from his party’s Presidential candidate). However, if he loses the support of the Democrats, he will lose the Speakership, and we are back to the three weeks of disarray (if not longer) from last fall as the Presidential Election looms large. That inaction could also lead to a government shutdown.
What happens next? Who knows. There’s a lot of time between now and Tuesday, April 9th when the House returns from Easter break.
I should have seen this coming.
Maybe I should renew my subscription to Nihilist Monthly?
I wonder why it took so long.
Meanwhile, Mike Gallagher from Wisconsin, who had already said he wasn’t running for re-election, is so pissed at leadership that he just announced he would be stepping down from his seat. But not immediately — he’s waiting until April… because vacancies after the second week in April aren’t filled until the November general election.
That means that the Republicans will only be able to afford one defection on any vote…
@wr:
I never thought I’d live to see a day when it was Democrats who were unified, organized and disciplined, while Republicans were shooting themselves in the foot on a daily basis. MAGA!
FFS. Republican congresscritters are EXHAUSTING.
I’d point out how very dumb this makes them look, but don’t get in the opposition’s way when they are busy destroying themselves.
@wr:
I was just about to update the post with this, but you beat me to it. He did the same thing Ken Buck did to the Republicans (preventing a quick filling of the seat.
Additionally, two of the current Republican seats are in districts that were found to be illegally gerrymandered. So there is a good chance those seats may flip this fall.
@wr: I love a good spite, and that is some world class spite right there.
Yeah, this seems to be about Ukraine aid. That … is a very interesting hill to die on. It’s almost like they think a adversary foreign power’s interests are more important than US interests.
Another observation is that MTG is a terrible politician. She’s great at generating attention, probably funds, and votes. But this is a terrible, terrible bargaining position. We got Mike Johnson because he was the last choice before making a deal with the Democrats. Try and get rid of him and what you will get is a deal with the Democrats.
MTG comes from the school of thought of “If I make a big enough stink, and I’m stubborn enough about it, they will do what I want”. That’s not how it works in the halls you now inhabit, ma’am. If you can’t make a deal, you are nobody there.
@Jay L Gischer: Only almost? I wish I could figure out a way to clone some of your kindness and optimism into myself. You really have a far more generous spirit than I do.
Democrats should not vote to save Speaker Penis without a vote on the Senate’s bipartisan Ukraine aid and border bill.
Say what you will about Boehner, I’m pretty sure he never thought he was appointed Speaker by God.
@Jay L Gischer:
She’s gotta do what she’s being paid to do. Not an accusation, just speculation. There does seem to be a lot of Russian money and influence floating around. It could be just Cleek’s Law. They do seem to mindlessly oppose anything Biden is for.
@Jay L Gischer:
I suspect Marge, like many before her, is following the Michele Bachman model. The craziest get the press, the press getters get the donors, and without a high press profile she would be a nobody.
Gaetz told reporters that if new Speaker selection comes to a vote, there are at least three Republicans who will vote for Jeffries.
At this point, I’m having a hard time deciding whether I should care or not.
@al Ameda:
What’s the point?
The next time the GQP takes the majority in the House, they should institute this rule: No clown show when the circus isn’t in town.
@DrDaveT:..What’s the point?
What’s the point of clicking on the Thumbs Up icon on this post by DrT if it doesn’t increase the tally?
@DrDaveT:
Take that up-vote you magnificent bastard!
@Mister Bluster: So it’s not just my thumbs up button that’s broken. Good to know.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:..digit dilemma…
I just upvoted your 19:02 comment. Could the OTB thumb be a fickle finger of fate?
@Mister Bluster: Perhaps. But accept my upvote all the same.
@just nutha…upvote…
I see it now.
@Mister Bluster:
Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!