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Matt McClain

Democratic leaders in the House officially declared Tuesday that they would vote to keep order in the House by protecting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from any far-right Republicans seeking his ouster.

That significantly improves Johnson’s chances of surviving an attempt to topple him from his right flank, though the situation in the House is extremely fluid and Republican opposition could accelerate at any moment.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is leading the effort to remove Johnson from the speakership because he has relied on Democratic support to pass major bills, particularly sending $60 billion in aid to Ukraine that a majority of House Republicans opposed. Johnson has had to lean on the minority party because hard-liners in his conference <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/29/house-republicans-mike-johnson-motion-to-vacate/?itid=ap_mariannasotomayor" target=_blank>refuse to compromise,</a> leading to intraparty divisions on policy and the legislative process.

On Tuesday, speculation rose about whether Greene and her chief ally, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), were ready to act. “I have to go vote,” Greene repeated when asked multiple times whether she was ready to bring up her move to depose Johnson, known as a “motion to vacate.” She and Massie were seen talking throughout the long vote series with several colleagues as Republicans braced for the possibility that Greene could trigger her motion at any time.

She ultimately did not. Instead, she and Massie were seen entering the House parliamentarian’s office right after the vote series Tuesday afternoon. Hours later, Greene remained coy about her plans by telling reporters to tune in to her and Massie’s news conference on Wednesday morning.

Earlier Tuesday morning, House Democratic leaders — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) — announced after discussions with colleagues that Democrats would be willing to block any motion to oust Johnson from the speakership.

“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction. We will vote to table [Greene’s] Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,” the Democratic leadership trio said in a statement.

In response to the news, Johnson said that what the “country needs right now is a functioning Congress” and that the House as an institution cannot afford another speaker removal and weeks wasted trying to get a fractious GOP conference to agree on another leader. He was referencing the three weeks it took to elect Johnson after eight Republicans ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October.

“We need people who are serious about the job here to continue to do that job and get it done. So, you know, I have to do what I believe is right every day and let the chips fall where they may,” Johnson said at his weekly news conference.

Democrats’ decision to back Johnson at a key moment is crucial to the speaker’s survival. In a House with just a two-vote majority, Republican <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/29/house-republicans-mike-johnson-motion-to-vacate/?itid=ap_mariannasotomayor" target=_blank>infighting and simmering anger</a> at the speaker from the right could mean that a movement to eject Johnson grows within GOP ranks. (Thus far, only one other Republican has said he will support it.) Johnson has been aided, however,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/12/donald-trump-mike-johnson-meeting/?itid=ap_mariannelevine" target=_blank> by backing from </a>former president <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Donald Trump</a> and a weak stomach for another speaker succession fight during an election year.

At the House Republican conference meeting Tuesday morning, the guest speaker, new Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who was placed in the position by Trump, poured cold water on any effort to oust Johnson. He said that he and Trump are interested in seeing the entire conference staying united, according to three people in the room.

“I certainly hope it doesn’t come up, I think it’s the wrong thing to do,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who unsuccessfully ran for speaker after McCarthy was deposed. “We’ve got to focus on winning this election, and we should keep Mike as speaker.”

Here’s how Democrats’ rescue plan would work: Democrats are vowing to “table,” or effectively kill, any move to topple Johnson. Once Greene, who has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/27/house-gop-thought-it-was-moving-past-internal-drama-then-more-showed-up/?itid=ap_mariannasotomayor" target="_blank">formally introduced </a>such a motion to vacate, brings it up for immediate consideration under special rules, the speaker has 48 hours to schedule a House vote. A vote to table the motion, if successful, would prevent a final vote to remove Johnson from occurring.

Democrats contend that by rejecting Greene’s motion, they are simply putting it aside instead of saving Johnson. Instead, they plan to argue they are helping maintain order by keeping all lawmakers focused on legislating.<b> </b>Democrats say they would not support Johnson if the motion to vacate actually comes to the floor.

Over a dozen Democrats — besides the three leaders — have said they will support tabling Greene’s motion. Even more Democrats said they are considering doing so. It’s also unclear how many Republicans would oppose Johnson, though a substantial majority of staunch hard-liners, including those in the House Freedom Caucus, do not support Greene’s push.

If the motion to table fails, things could get unpredictable. Democrats could follow through on the decision not to help Johnson further, meaning three Republicans would be enough to topple Johnson.

Democrats’ announcement appeared to dare Greene to act. Greene <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1785323610942386593" target=_blank>posted on social media</a> shortly after Democrats tipped their hand: “If the Democrats want to elect [Johnson] Speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen Speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it.”

“Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat Speaker of the House,” she said before calling on the speaker to “resign or switch parties.”

The Democratic leadership’s declaration of an official position on a possible motion to vacate comes months after Jeffries suggested in an interview with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/us/politics/hakeem-jeffries-mike-johnson.html" target=_blank>the New York Times</a> that House Democrats were open to helping Johnson if Republicans sought to depose him over passing Ukraine aid.

Since then, Jeffries had repeatedly stated that his remarks were “a declaration, not an observation. We’ll have to have that conversation before the House caucus” before officially making a position known.

House Democrats had that conversation during their weekly caucus meeting Tuesday morning, driven by the fact that Greene’s threat still looms large over the House. After talking about the legislative month ahead and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/24/donald-payne-death-congress-new-jersey/" target=_blank>commemorating the late </a>Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), Jeffries opened up the floor for discussion on the motion to vacate. He stressed that whatever the outcome of the conversation, Democratic leadership would not impose its official position on members and would allow them to vote their conscience if Greene were to ever trigger the motion.

According to multiple people in the room, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the off-the-record meeting, several Democrats stood up to express concerns about Johnson and aiding Republicans without receiving something more concrete in return.

Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) said that she was struggling with the appearance of keeping an election denier as speaker and hoped that Democrats could extract more concessions from Republicans, particularly GOP leaders pledging to avoid putting tough votes on the floor meant to divide swing-district lawmakers like her.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who served on the House committee that investigated the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/january-6-capitol-riot/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Jan. 6</a>, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, echoed the concerns that Johnson — who <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/25/speaker-mike-johnson-election-denier/" target=_blank>led the charge in the House</a> to overturn the 2020 presidential election results — could pose a serious danger in January if he remains speaker after the election because his past views do not guarantee a peaceful transfer of power. She expressed a willingness to help Johnson because she is “on the team,” referencing Democrats, and understood colleagues who argued they want to prevent the House from devolving into chaos once again.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) also addressed his dislike for helping Republicans keep their speaker in place, but he reminded colleagues that opposing Johnson’s ouster means they look like “the adults in the room” who can govern and enable the House to function. He said there are substantive and political benefits to that argument but that he hoped Democrats wouldn’t be “cheap dates” and would push for some GOP concessions.

Given the overwhelming response from members, Democratic leaders swiftly released their position when the caucus meeting wrapped.

“It’s not lost on me the role that Mike Johnson played with the lead-up to Jan. 6,” said Aguilar, who served on the Jan. 6 committee. “However, we want to turn the page. We don’t want to turn the clock back and let [Greene] dictate the schedule or the calendar that’s ahead. … Spending time on this just doesn’t make sense to us.”

Greene alleged Tuesday morning that Johnson must have made a “slimy backroom deal” with Democrats to earn their backing. Johnson publicly rebuked the suggestion, telling reporters that he hasn’t “requested assistance from anyone. I’m not focused on that at all. I’m getting the job done and getting the legislation now.”

A senior Democratic aide confirmed that Johnson and Jeffries never had a conversation before or after the foreign aid bills were passed about  Greene’s threat. Jeffries also did not give Johnson a heads-up before Democratic leadership released its statement.

Republicans acknowledged they were asked by constituents about why aid was sent to Ukraine during town halls over recess, but did not receive the backlash Greene predicted. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus who is disappointed in Johnson’s leadership, said Greene just represents the base of the party “in her state” and her push is a “distraction.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), another members of the Freedom Caucus, acknowledged the frustration among Republicans over Johnson leaning on Democrats. But she said Democrats supporting Johnson “doesn’t weaken” him because she and many other Republicans would rather have him hold the gavel than end up with Jeffries as speaker.

“We have a slim majority in the House, and everything’s being passed overwhelmingly with Democrats’ support, so it makes no difference to me if it’s Hakeem Jeffries as speaker or Mike Johnson right now. I want Speaker Mike Johnson to do the absolute best. I like Mike,” she said. “It’s just really sad seeing the policies that are coming out. Hopefully something changes.”

<i>Mariana Alfaro and Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed to this report.</i>

George Washington University, BA in political communications

George Washington University, MA in strategic communications

Marianna Sotomayor covers the House of Representatives for The Washington Post. Sotomayor joined The Post in 2021 from NBC News.

Marianna Sotomayor

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