In a post to X this Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he will not change the procedure for removing him from his leadership position, after far-right members erupted in anger over the proposed rule change.
“Since the beginning of the 118th Congress, the House rule allowing a Motion to Vacate from a single member has harmed this office and our House majority,” Johnson wrote.
“Recently, many members have encouraged me to endorse a new rule to raise this threshold. While I understand the importance of that idea, any rule change requires a majority of the full House, which we do not have. We will continue to govern under the existing rules," he added.
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Previous news reports stated that Johnson was being pressured by his members to raise the threshold required to initiate the procedure to oust him — "a move that would help ensure the Louisiana Republican can pass foreign aid bills and still keep his job without needing to rely on Democrats to bail him out. Currently, any single member can force a floor vote on the motion to vacate — part of the deal Kevin McCarthy made to become speaker last year," CNN reported.
In her own post to X, Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed Johnson, accusing him to working to help the Democrats' agenda over Republicans.
"The real damage happening to our conference and our country is that our elected Republican Speaker is supporting Biden and the Democrat’s agenda and not fighting for our Republican agenda," Greene wrote.
"Stop making excuses and blaming others," she added.
Greene ally Thomas Massie chimed in, too. He said, "The Speaker tried to change the rules to eliminate the motion to vacate but he didn’t have the votes today."
The effort to oust Johnson has been underway for weeks, led by Greene. As CNN points out, "the proposal to change the rules around ousting the speaker has ignited intense speculation over Johnson’s future."
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