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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Speaker Johnson faces threat of ouster vote in pivotal week as he meets | |
with Marjorie Taylor Greene | |
By Haley Talbot and Clare Foran, CNN | |
Updated: | |
10:56 PM EDT, Mon May 6, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to confront a vote over his | |
ouster in the coming days, a pivotal moment that presents a major | |
leadership test for the Louisiana Republican even though he is expected | |
to prevail. | |
House Democratic leaders have said that Democrats led by GOP Rep. | |
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, effectively ensuring Johnson won’t | |
lose his job. | |
Johnson met with Greene on Monday for around two hours in his office. | |
After the meeting concluded, Greene said they would meet again on | |
Tuesday, but declined to provide details about what was discussed or | |
say if she would still force a vote seeking his ouster this week. | |
“We just had a very long discussion with the speaker. We are going to | |
be meeting again tomorrow based on the discussion that we’ve had so | |
we really don’t have any news to report at this time,” Greene said. | |
Johnson told CNN after meeting with Greene, “We had a productive� | |
discussion and we talked about some ideas and we’re gonna meet again | |
tomorrow. So I think we’ll be able to get everybody on the same | |
page.” | |
A failed vote would give Johnson an opportunity to argue that it is | |
time to move on from the issue. But support from Democrats will open | |
Johnson up to even more criticism from his right flank. | |
It’s not yet clear how many Republicans would vote against Johnson | |
– the higher the number, the more of a blow it could prove to be to | |
the speaker’s standing within the House GOP conference. | |
Greene has said in the coming days, escalating pressure on Johnson | |
and setting up a major showdown on the House floor. Even if the vote | |
fails, as expected, it still threatens to intensify divisions among | |
House Republicans, who control a razor-thin majority. | |
Former President Donald Trump and Greene have spoken about her motion | |
to vacate within the last week, multiple sources with knowledge of the | |
call told CNN. Trump did not directly tell Greene to drop the motion, | |
but the presumptive Republican presidential nominee discussed party | |
unity and signaled that the motion might be distracting, one source | |
said, noting that he listened to Greene’s reasoning and wasn’t too | |
forceful with her. | |
Many Republicans oppose the push to oust Johnson and do not want to see | |
the conference devolve into bitter infighting like it did after former | |
Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a historic and unprecedented vote | |
last year. | |
Greene and other hardline conservatives, however, have been highly | |
critical of Johnson’s speakership. Conservative anger at Johnson | |
intensified after he worked to help with assistance for Ukraine last | |
month. | |
Johnson has defended his leadership against the threat, saying that � | |
and warning that a vote to oust him | |
“This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the | |
institution, and wrong for the country,” the speaker said in a | |
statement after Greene announced she would move forward with a vote. | |
Two other Republicans are publicly supporting Greene’s motion to | |
vacate: Massie and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona. | |
“I believe in recorded votes. That is our job – our job is to | |
vote,” Greene said at a news conference where she announced she would | |
trigger a vote. | |
“If this vote fails,” the congresswoman said, “that’s a list | |
of names – and the voters and the American people … they deserve | |
that list.” | |
Greene has been dangling the threat of an ouster vote for weeks. She | |
Johnson in March amid conservative anger over his handling of the | |
government funding fight. | |
The congresswoman also has not ruled out the possibility of forcing | |
repeated votes in the future after the coming vote. | |
“I haven’t made a decision on that yet,” she said at the news | |
conference. | |
A floor vote to oust Johnson would require a majority to succeed, but a | |
motion to table – or kill – the resolution is expected to be | |
offered and voted on first. | |
House GOP leaders plan to quickly take up and kill Greene’s motion, | |
according to GOP sources. Depending on attendance, they could vote the | |
same day she offers it. | |
Johnson met with the conservative House Freedom Caucus Monday night, | |
per a source familiar, as he continues to try to stave off ouster | |
threats. Greene was in July 2023. | |
In the wake of Johnson’s push to pass the foreign aid package over | |
the objections of hardline conservatives, House Democratic leadership | |
announced that Democrats would help Johnson keep his job by voting to | |
table if the issue arose. | |
But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would not commit last week to | |
having Democrats save Johnson from multiple attempts to oust him if | |
conservatives trigger repeated votes in the future. | |
Jeffries said the Democratic caucus “will take it one step at a | |
time.” | |
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments. | |
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