WASHINGTON – Representative of the Hard Line. Marjorie Taylor Greenetried and failed in a sudden move on Wednesday to remove the speaker of the House Mike JohnsonHis risky effort was quickly and vehemently rejected by Democrats and Republicans tired of the political chaos.
One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood on the House floor and read a long list of “transgressions” she said Johnson had committed as speaker of the House. Colleagues booed in protest.
Georgia’s Greene criticized Johnson’s leadership as “pathetic, weak and unacceptable.”
As soon as Greene triggered a vote on her motion to vacate the House speaker’s position, Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise responded by first calling for a vote to table it.
An overwhelming majority, 359-43, kept Johnson in office for now.
It is the second time in a matter of months that Republicans have tried to remove their own speaker of the House, an unprecedented level of partisan turbulence, with a move rarely seen in US history.
As Greene advanced, despite resistance from Republicans at the highest levels, including Trump, Republican lawmakers filtered toward Johnson, patting him on the back and grabbing his shoulder to assure him of their support.
“As I’ve said from the beginning, and I’ve made it clear here every day, I intend to do my job,” Johnson said afterward. “And I’ll let the chips fall where they may. In my opinion, that is leadership.”
Johnson said the “distraction” was behind him and said he hoped “this will be the end of personality politics”.
The Georgia Republican promised she would force a vote on movement to vacate the Republican president if he dared to move forward with a foreign aid package with funds for Ukraine, which was overwhelmingly approved late last month and sanctioned.
But in recent days it appeared her effort had cooled, as she and Johnson met repeatedly about a possible resolution.
Johnson of Louisiana went on to say he was willing to take the risk to approve foreign aid, believing it was important for the U.S. to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and explaining that he wanted to be there. the “right side of history.”
In a highly unusual move, the speaker received a boost from Democrats led by the congressman. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, whose leadership team had said it was time to “turn the page” about the turmoil in the Republican Party and voting for Greene’s resolution — all but guaranteeing that Johnson’s job will be saved, for now.
“Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Green from plunging the country into even more chaos is rooted in our commitment to solving problems,” Jeffries said after the vote.
Trump also weighed in. After Johnson traveled to Mar-a-Lago last month seeking support, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee gave the House speaker his nod of approval. And Trump’s handpicked leader of the Republican National Committee urged House Republicans to stand down.
Before the House vote, Trump said on social media, “I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene,” but said Republicans must fight now to defeat Democrats in the November election. He urged Republicans to advance Greene’s motion.
“At some point, we very well may be, but this is not the time,” Trump said, to remove the speaker.
The move now presents its own political risks for Greene, a high-profile provocateur.
Greene was determined to force her colleagues to register their vote – putting them in the politically uncomfortable position of supporting the speaker and seen as joining forces with Democrats to save him.
The count showed the strength but also the weakness of their effort, as a majority of lawmakers voted to overcome infighting and allow the Republican president, just six months in office, to keep the gavel.
“The Democrats saved it,” Greene said afterward.
Without Democratic support, the vote likely would have ended differently for Johnson, who holds one of the narrowest House majorities in modern times, with no votes to spare.
Last year, the House chamber was paralyzed when eight Republicans voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s office and Democrats refused to help save him, the first removal of a House speaker in U.S. history.
McCarthy’s ouster resulted in a nearly month-long search for a new Republican leader, throwing the House into turmoil with an episode Republicans wanted to avoid before seeking voter support in the November elections.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick and Michelle Price contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
