Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) hopes that all MAGA Republicans are home on this recess, listening to their constituents tell them that they should vote to remove Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Greene has authored a privileged motion in the House of Representatives—privileged motions can be called to a vote at any time, without a hearing, without a specific rule from the Rules Committee—to vacate the Speakership, to remove Johnson from that position and call for a vote to replace him.
Some history is in order. The Motion to Vacate has a long history—of non-use. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the only Speaker to have been removed—and it was his own fault. In bargaining with the right wing of his party to secure enough votes to become Speaker, McCarthy accepted a change in the rules to allow any one Member of Congress to file a Motion to Vacate. In normal times, the motion took support from half of the Republican Conference before a Motion to Vacate became the order of the day. McCarthy first agreed to lower that number to five Republican Representatives, and he then accepted that a single member could force an ouster vote—a concession he needed in order to get the votes to win the Speakership, but which in the end cost him his job. Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) moved to vacate the Speaker's Chair when McCarthy held it; that motion was supported by a handful of MAGA Republicans and all of the Democrats; McCarthy lost and a weeks long governing crisis ensued, with the House unable to do any business other than try to elect a Speaker until Johnson was eventually chosen.
Now Greene wants to revisit that situation, because Johnson has not been rigid enough in his conservatism for Greene’s taste. Her position has recently been publicly supported by two of her fellow right-wing Republicans. If the Democrats vote against Johson, this is enough to unseat him, since the GOP majority in the House is now only one seat.
Note the caveat: if the Democrats vote against Johnson. This time, they might not. They might save the Republicans from, as Axios' Juliegrace Brufke and Justin Green of Axios wrote, “knowingly and willingly castrating [their own power].” Why? Why save Johnson when the Democrats let McCarthy dangle in the winds of intra-party strife and then fall to his congressional demise?
Simply put: they think he is honest and McCarthy was not. While they disagree with Johnson fundamentally on virtually every important issue, they trust him to speak to them and deal with them honestly. McCarthy, in their view, was a serial liar who would say and promise anything to retain power—and then change his view if it suited his political needs. He denounced Trump after January 6, then made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to seek Trump’s blessing. He made a budget deal with President Biden, then backed down on it in a forlorn attempt to keep his Speakership.
Johnson has been upfront with the Democrats and has kept his word. They know where he stands and that he is willing to negotiate and bargain to keep the government functioning.
Just as important, the Democrats saw how dysfunctional the government was when the House could not do its job. While that show of disarray hurt the Republicans politically, it hurt the country more—and the Democrats do not want that. So, in all likelihood, if Greene brings her motion to the floor—and enough Republicans say they will support it—enough Democrats will vote for a motion to table, that is, a motion to kill the proposal, to keep it from passing. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) might or might not support a motion to table, but if it is killed with Democratic votes, those will be votes that he has approved.
However, if Democratic votes save Johnson, many Republicans, who now disapprove of a Motion to Vacate might change their minds and support another removal effort, claiming that Johnson would then owe too much to the Democrats, claiming that he has acceded to coalition government, something they cannot condone.
Enter Donald Trump. Trump has spoken out twice in the last week in support of Johnson, saying that he is a “good guy,” Trump’s highest praise other than saying someone is unfailingly loyal to him. Noting that Johnson had gone to Mara-a-Lago and endorsed his presidential run, Trump has concluded that Johnson has done a good enough job in very trying circumstances, holding only the slimmest majority. He also noted that the Ukraine package Johnson has negotiated contained some loans as well as grants, a proposition put forth by Trump.
The Democrats know that Trump has an ulterior motive, that he does not want it to appear that the Republicans are incapable of governing, as that would hurt his presidential campaign.
Many people feel that if Trump is for something, they should oppose it. But not always. A stopped clock is right twice a day. A gorilla, seated at a piano long enough, might eventually play The Minute Waltz. And for his own reasons—not theirs—the Democrats should admit in this case that Trump is right—and Marjorie Taylor Greene and the fringe wing of the GOP in the House should not be permitted to bring the House to its metaphorical knees.
For the good of the nation, Democrats who vote to keep Johnson in the Speakership until after the November election—and Donald Trump—are right to oppose any Motion to Vacate the Speakership. Difficult as that vote may be.