Rep. Cole says ‘the reservoir of goodwill is enormous’ for Johnson amid impeachment threat

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) on Sunday dismissed the impeachment threat against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), claiming it is a “relatively small number” of Republican lawmakers who want the speaker to Chamber be expelled from his position.

Asked on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” whether he believes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to vacate is a “real threat” to Johnson’s leadership, Cole said: “Well, I’ll take any serious thing. But no, not me.

“I think it’s a relatively small number of Republican members, frankly, just like it was in the case of McCarthy, there were only eight people,” he added, in reference to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the fall past.

In McCarthy’s case, eight Republicans joined Democrats to remove him. Cole noted that he does not believe there is “unified Democratic support” against Johnson.

“I think both sides have now seen how dangerous this is, how irresponsible it is,” he said.

“The question is, [Johnson’s] I did a lot. I think people admire him. They really like him. Everyone respects him,” Cole later added. “All the Republicans voted for him. I don’t think anyone else could have done it back then except Mike Johnson. Therefore, the reservoir of goodwill is enormous. I think he’s a lot stronger than people seem to think. And I think he demonstrated that with what he went through.”

Greene introduced a motion to vacate the presidency against Johnson last month after the House passed a spending package to avert a partial government shutdown hours before the deadline. The package received votes from both sides, but angered House conservatives.

At the time, she called it “basically a warning,” but rising tensions over aid to Ukraine renewed the threat, and she said on Sunday that the motion “will come regardless of what Mike Johnson decides to do.”

She did not outline exact details about what might prompt her to bring the motion up for discussion, but called on Johnson to resign.

“Mike Johnson’s position as spokesman is over. He needs to do the right thing by resigning and allowing us to move forward in a controlled process, and if he doesn’t, he will be vacated,” she said Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”