(NewsReady.com) – Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from the position last year and then resigned from Congress. After a fight between House Republicans, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took over. A congresswoman wanted to end his tenure too, but her attempt to make him the second speaker to be vacated failed.
On May 8, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) forced a vote on her motion to vacate the speaker. The House voted overwhelmingly to keep Johnson in his post. The final vote was 359 to table the motion and 43 to support it. Seven Democrats voted present.
Greene took issue with Johnson’s decisions to work with Democrats in March to keep the government open. She grew angrier last month when the speaker, again, relied on the Left to pass the massive $95 billion foreign aid package.
Only 10 Republicans joined Greene’s efforts to oust Johnson. Those Conservatives included Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has regularly joined Greene at press conferences where she has railed against the speaker.
After the vote, Johnson expressed his appreciation for the “show of confidence to defeat [the] misguided effort” to remove him. He said that he hoped the vote would be the end of “personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress.” He called on his colleagues to get beyond their issues because “it’s not who [they] are as Americans.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters that the Democratic Party decided to stop Greene “from plunging the country into further chaos” because they are committed to problem-solving. The Associated Press reported that he also said he hasn’t “given it a thought” when asked if the Left would save Johnson in a future vote.
That means that Johnson’s job could still be in danger if Greene or another member of the far-right tries to oust him again.
Copyright 2024, NewsReady.com
