House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will remain in office. At this point.
Despite numerous threats, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has yet to pull the trigger on her decision to unseat Mr. Johnson.
Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) huddled with Johnson for the second day in a row Tuesday. Just last week, Green announced he was beginning his decision to dump Johnson. But Mr. Green is holding back. Also.
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She first threatened to force a vote on her bill in the House of Representatives in mid-March.
“We’ve had discussions in the chairman’s office and the ball is now in Mike Johnson’s court,” Green said.
Asked when he would take action against the speaker, Greene said, “That’s up to Mike Johnson.”
There are a lot of unhappy House Republicans right now. Green said he wants to put members on the record to show who is for Johnson and who is against him. Additionally, Mr. Green will likely highlight his widespread support for Mr. Johnson. But the future vote tally for Green’s unconventional ploy to remove Johnson from the Speaker’s Office will be a key indicator. It will serve as a gauge for the series of catastrophic political events that could unfold later this year and early next year. In fact, they could paralyze the republic.
That means if Greene were to introduce a resolution, the House would first vote to prevent her from introducing a motion to vacate the speakership, requiring a new vote on the speakership.
Like most things, it’s about math. So let’s explore that a little.
To be sure, there will be some Republicans who oppose tabling. In other words, there is an unknown world in which Republicans are on record wanting the House to vote no confidence in Mr. Johnson. But the House is likely to sidestep that effort.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) threatened to vote on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s vacation, but it has not yet passed. (Getty Images)
No, things haven’t gone well at all since House Republicans regained their majority in the fall 2022 midterm elections. It took the House five days and 15 votes just to elect former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in early January 2023. And it took just nine months for House Republicans to remove McCarthy from office. This resulted in a 22-day vacancy in the House of Representatives. This policy prevented the agency from doing anything until it ultimately selected Johnson to succeed McCarthy.
Ordinary Republicans are exhausted by the daily internal drama surrounding Mr. Johnson and Ms. Greene. Moreover, most House Republicans have acknowledged that they have ties to Greene and don’t want to provoke her business.
“We don’t like it. We’re going to be angry because it just weakens us all,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). “Tactically and strategically, that’s not wise.”
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) agreed with Greene’s plan to vacate Johnson’s chairmanship. But Gosar has doubts about the timing.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen this week,” Gosar said. “I hope that doesn’t happen this week. So I’ll leave it at that.”
You genuinely asked Johnson about the long-standing threat by Green.
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“It’s bad for the country, it’s bad for the conference, it’s bad for the cause,” Johnson replied.
The fact that Democratic leaders have announced that they intend to support Mr. Johnson through a congressional maneuver to remove him appears to have added fuel to the flames in the House Republican conference.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she supports House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)’s move to bring in the Democratic cavalry for Mr. Johnson.
“I think he’s very aligned with our caucus,” Pelosi responded.
I then asked Ms. Pelosi what this meant about Mr. Johnson, if he had to rely on a minority to hang on to his job.
“He doesn’t need to ask the minority for support,” Pelosi responded. “The Minority Party says we support the integrity of the House and will not allow it to be cluttered with nonsense.”
Cynics may point out that Democrats never came to McCarthy’s rescue. But Democrats say Mr. McCarthy has backed away from major spending deals and made comments mocking his opponents. Yes, there is a rift between Democrats and Johnson. But Democrats believe they at least got what they needed from Mr. Johnson, including an honest broker when it came to funding legislation and spending deals for Ukraine.
But in a Machiavellian twist, did Democrats actually cause further chaos in the Republican conference? saying Will they support Johnson? So why is Green now meeting regularly with Johnson? Even if that wasn’t the intention, the result is indisputable. There is currently confusion within the House Republican Party.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), second from left, answered questions with House Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) (left) and House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (RN). .Y) responds to questions. , November 2, 2023, watch the press conference at the U.S. Capitol. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Ordinary Republicans are also aware of how much attention Greene and Massie are getting. They complain about the daily drama.
“We held a big press conference last week and said we were going to do it this week, and now we’re going to repeat the same process again,” fumed Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio. “Are we fundraising or are we trying to accomplish something on the ground?”
Mr Joyce also suggested that Mr Johnson “could mount a rebellion if he responded to groups that threatened him”.
As Shakespeare wrote, what is past is prologue. That’s why the current uproar among House Republicans could reveal something rather ominous about the future of Mr. Johnson, other Republican speaker candidates, and the presidency.
The House of Representatives has spent 28 of the 494 days since the 118th Congress began on January 3, 2023, in a fight over the speakership. By rules, the House can’t do anything, nothing at all, until the Speaker appears. It cannot be voted on. Committees cannot be established. It cannot be legislated. You may not speak ill of members. The House took five days to finally elect Mr. McCarthy as speaker in January 2023. This was the longest presidential election since the late 1850s. The House of Representatives then ousted Mr. McCarthy and then held fire for 22 days in October, ultimately electing Mr. Johnson.
The problem is:
For the sake of argument, let’s say Republicans retain their House majority in this fall’s elections. If Democrats win the House, the party would elect Jeffries as speaker. But if the Republicans prevail, the path for Mr. Johnson, or anyone else, to return to the speaker’s office is by no means clear. If Mr Green calls for a vote for Mr Johnson, it would provide a barometer for understanding what kind of budget deficit Mr Johnson will face in January.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol during a vote on TikTok-related legislation in Washington, D.C., March 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
As demonstrated in January 2023, the House must vote. And please vote. Then vote until a chair is elected. I have nothing else to do. period. And again, you can’t abuse members either.
Under the constitution, the new parliament must begin appointing a speaker and swearing in members at noon on January 3, 2023.
It took five days to select Mr. McCarthy and 22 days to select Mr. Johnson.
The House had time in January 2023. The midterm elections had just ended. I certainly had time last fall.
But time is not a luxury when the 119th Congress convenes on January 3, 2025.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to certify the electors on January 6th.
Congress did not complete the certification of electors for the 2020 election until the early hours of January 7 after the riot at the Capitol.
So what happens if the House is deadlocked over choosing a speaker and cannot convene a joint session to certify the Electoral College?
This could be a problem if Republicans control the House and struggle to elect a speaker.
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That’s why the current problems plaguing Mike Johnson could be exponential in size come January.
