With the declaration of readiness to rescue, the Democrats expect House Speaker Johnson to continue to rely on them to deal with the far-right faction in the Republic.
After a regular closed-door meeting of Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives on April 30, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party would defend House Speaker Mike Johnson against the House’s attempt to overthrow him. Far-right Republican congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“We will vote to deny Greene’s request to dismiss the Speaker of the House. If she activates the request, this effort will not be successful,” Mr. Jeffries announced.
This is considered an unusual move, when the Democrats, who are in the minority in the House of Representatives, expressed support for a Republican member to hold the leadership position of this agency. The Republican Party holds a narrow majority in the House of Representatives with 217 seats, while the Democrats hold 212 seats. 6 seats in the House of Representatives are vacant.
Ms. Greene announced on May 1 that she would ask the House of Representatives to vote to dismiss Johnson next week. The far-right congresswoman previously warned she would take action if Mr. Johnson let the Ukraine aid bill pass. Despite that threat, the US House of Representatives on April 20 passed a foreign aid bill worth $95 billion, including nearly $61 billion for Ukraine.
“I don’t think we should punish a Speaker of the House for doing the right thing,” said Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer.
House Speaker Mike Johnson answers to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, April 20. Image: AFP
On March 22, Ms. Greene filed a “request to dismiss” the Speaker of the House of Representatives, accusing Mr. Johnson of “betrayal” for relying on Democrats to pass the $1,200 billion spending bill. The Republicans were then pressuring the Democrats to make certain concessions to pass the spending bill.
The proposal to dismiss the Speaker of the House of Representatives used to be a very difficult and complicated process, and had to be voted on within the party with majority support before being voted on in the House of Representatives. However, Kevin McCarthy, Johnson’s predecessor, in January 2023 agreed to relax this regulation so that the far-right Republican Party would support him as Speaker of the House.
The new regulations allow any parliamentarian to have the right to present a “resolution to the office of the Chairman of the House of Representatives” without needing additional support from anyone else. After this parliamentarian requests a vote, the House of Representatives must decide to approve or disapprove within two administrative days. If approved, the House of Representatives will vote and as long as a majority of parliamentarians support the resolution, the current chairman will lose his position.
This is the factor that caused Mr. McCarthy to lose his job in October 2023, when far-right Republican congressman Matt Gaetz activated the process. Contrary to Johnson, the Democrats at that time did not support McCarthy. With 8 Republicans and all Democrats supporting the resolution, McCarthy was dismissed with a vote of 216-210.
This scenario is difficult to repeat with Johnson, when the Democrats vowed to protect him. Without the support of the Democratic Party, it was almost impossible for Ms. Greene to find the 218 votes needed to remove the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Many Republicans have also publicly opposed this proposal.
Democrats “are rewarding Johnson for getting the Ukraine aid bill, which was opposed by most Republicans, passed,” said Russell Berman, columnist for The Atlantic, identify. “The Democrats are seeing an opportunity to do what they have wanted to do for years, which is to distance the Republican House speaker from the far right.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy only sought help from Democrats to pass a spending bill to help the US government continue to operate after weeks of calling for the House of Representatives to give the “green light” to promote the impeachment investigation. President Joe Biden attempted to appease the far right, but failed.
The narrow majority makes it difficult for the Republican Party to implement its general policy, because the far-right faction has repeatedly caused bills to not have the necessary votes. This forced Mr. Johnson to ask for support from the Democrats, forming an “informal alliance”.
By pledging to block Greene’s efforts, Democrats also hope to ensure that Mr. Johnson will turn to them in the remaining 7 months of his term instead of the far-right Republicans, according to Berman. In addition, the Democrats only committed to helping Johnson deal with Ms. Greene, meaning they can still remove him in the future.
“We want a new start,” said Peter Aguilar, the third leader of the Democratic faction in the House of Representatives, adding that they are trying to prevent the chaos that Ms. Greene threatens to cause in this agency. “Greene is an arsonist in the legislature and she’s holding the gas tank. We don’t have to be a part of that effort.”
Democrats say that the passage of the Ukraine aid bill, despite being delayed for many months, shows that Mr. Johnson is more politically courageous than his predecessor.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers, especially neutrals, have also hinted that they are ready to “rescue Johnson” if he brings the Ukraine aid bill to a vote. Many Democratic lawmakers are just waiting for an official signal from their faction’s leaders.
“I sympathize more with Johnson than McCarthy, who only wants to calculate his political position,” Congressman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez explained why she chose to help the current Speaker of the House.
Johnson “bravely” faced down the “anti-government” faction within the Republican Party, former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters. Axios.
According to writers Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan’s Punchbowl Newssupporting Johnson also helps Democrats show themselves as “adults” by helping prevent chaos from happening in the House of Representatives.
However, this is still a “bitter pill to swallow”, because they do not get anything new in return, after Johnson helped pass the spending bill, support Ukraine and extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (FISA), are all priorities of the White House.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia. Image: AFP
Some Democratic lawmakers attending the meeting on April 30 also expressed concerns about this. Congresswoman Susie Lee is torn between helping Johnson, who supported the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, with the hope that the Democrats will receive concessions from the Republicans.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who worked on the House committee investigating the Capitol Hill riot in January 2021, shares the same opinion.
Lofgren said that if Johnson remains in office after the November election, he could pose a “serious risk”, because past views show that he is unlikely to help the transition of power in January 2025. go smoothly. However, she is still willing to help Johnson because “she is a Democrat” and understands that the party wants to prevent the House of Representatives from falling into chaos again.
Democratic Congressman Perez said what she does in the future depends on the situation at that time.
“With the national security package, the Speaker of the House has shown that he is a leader worth rescuing,” Ms. Perez said. “I vote no matter how he does it. Of course, I will not vote for him as Speaker of the House when electing a new leader. But that is a different situation.”