House Blocks Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Effort to Oust Speaker Mike Johnson

WASHINGTON—The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a resolution by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, with Democrats stepping in to help save the Republican leader, closing for now another dramatic chapter in the GOP’s intraparty squabbling.

Greene (R., Ga.), who has accused Johnson (R., La.) of betraying his party by relying on Democratic votes to avoid government shutdowns and fund foreign aid, forced a vote on removing the speaker despite the opposition of most other congressional Republicans and former President Donald Trump.

Her decision to trigger the motion to vacate the chair after more than a month of threats gave leaders two legislative days to bring it up, but Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) moved immediately to block the effort. The vote was 359-43 to table, or set aside, Greene’s motion, with seven voting present.

“I appreciate the show of confidence for my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort,” said Johnson, who urged Republican unity heading into the November elections, when the party hopes to add more seats. “Hopefully, this is the end of the personality politics and the character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress.”

Speaking on the Capitol steps after the vote, Greene said: “Today has proven the uniparty is alive and well and the Democrats now control Speaker Johnson.”

The GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House has given a tiny minority of hard-line Republicans outsize power to block legislation or target the speaker. The episode marked the second time in seven months that Republican dissidents had called up a motion to vacate the chair.

Johnson, who has said he is doing the best he can under the circumstances, was elected by Republicans in October after eight GOP lawmakers engineered the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.). That time, Democrats voted against the GOP speaker, dooming McCarthy.

This time, Democratic leaders had said they would help Johnson block the motion, citing his decision last month to allow a successful vote on funding Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Blocking Greene prevented her “from plunging the House of Representatives and the country into further chaos,” said Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) said the “idea that you remove a speaker for doing the right thing on Ukraine funding wasn’t something I was going to support.”

Greene last week had vowed to call a vote in her long-shot bid to remove the speaker. She and her ally, Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.), held meetings on Monday and Tuesday with Johnson in which Greene laid out a series of demands. Johnson said he was open to ideas from members but wasn’t negotiating.

By Wednesday, Greene had effectively run out of room to maneuver and needed to either pull the trigger on forcing a vote or drop the effort entirely.

The House was set to leave on Wednesday evening after passing a short-term extension on the Federal Aviation Administration when Greene stood up in the House chamber. She began reading her motion as members in her own party booed her, ticking off a list of complaints about how Johnson has run the chamber.

Greene, flanked by Massie, charged Johnson “aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country.”

Referencing a series of spending bills and a foreign-aid bill, Greene said Johnson supported “fully funding abortion, the trans agenda, the climate agenda, foreign wars and the border crisis rather than ensuring liberty, opportunity and security for all Americans.”

Eleven Republicans voted against the motion to table, effectively siding with Greene, but strong majorities of both parties backed the speaker. The GOP dissidents, alongside Greene and Massie, included Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Chip Roy of Texas and Alex Mooney of West Virginia, who is running for Senate.

Other Republicans rushed to defend Johnson, who was mere feet away from Greene when she stood to read the motion. They gave him back pats and handshakes on the House floor.

“This type of tantrum is absolutely unacceptable, and it does nothing to further the cause of the conservative movement,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.).

“I mean, I will give her this credit: We basically said put up or shut up. She put up and now it’s time to shut up,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro (R., N.Y.).

In a statement on social media, Trump made clear he opposed Greene’s effort but also praised her.

“I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s got Spirit, she’s got Fight, and I believe she’ll be around, and on our side, for a long time to come.” However, citing the party’s thin majority he said the GOP is “not in a position of voting on a Motion to Vacate. At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time.”

The former president spoke by phone with Greene this past week to express his disapproval with her efforts, according to people familiar with the conversation. Trump told her that such a move risked destabilizing the party ahead of his rematch with President Biden this fall, these people said.

Since Republicans have such a slim majority—with 217 in their conference to 213 Democrats and five vacancies—just a few lawmakers could oust a speaker if all members of the opposing party also joined in. Because 163 Democrats joined the motion to table, Greene’s effort easily failed.

In the discussions with Johnson earlier in the week, Greene and Massie had insisted that he commit to a series of demands: No bill passes without the support of a majority of the Republican conference; no further Ukraine funding; that special counsels be defunded; and that any short-term spending deal to fund the government come with a 1% cut.

Greene first filed her motion to vacate in March, saying she was furious at Johnson for relying on Democratic votes to avoid a government shutdown. She was further incensed by his support for bipartisan bills to fund Ukraine aid and reauthorize a surveillance bill, and she said last week she intended to bring up her motion this week as a privileged motion. That would give it special consideration ahead of other business, and would force the speaker to schedule a vote within two legislative days.

Several lawmakers pointed out that Greene was largely acting alone, with little support among GOP lawmakers or from Trump. Some said they wanted her to suffer consequences, such as losing committee assignments or potentially even being expelled from the conference.

“I think that Marjorie is going to find herself in a very lonely place,” said Rep. Max Miller (R., Ohio).

Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article.

Write to Natalie Andrews at [email protected], Lindsay Wise at [email protected] and Katy Stech Ferek at [email protected]