House Speaker Mike Johnson is under fire in his own Republican conference for cooperating in the passage of a $1.2 trillion spending bill over the objections of most GOP House members. The GOP split is most demonstrably on display in two facts: 1) 101 Republicans voted to pass the legislation that avoided a partial government shutdown. 2) Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a motion to vacate Johnson for his role.
Johnson, praised — albeit mildly — by Democrats for being the “adult in the room” and not permitting the government to cease functioning, is on the chopping block with Greene’s move.
The notion that Democrats could vote to save an unpopular Speaker is being entertained, basically on the notion that Dems might prefer, as the phrase goes, the devil you know over the devil you don’t.
[NOTE: “I think what Leader Jeffries has said is we’re not going to punish anyone for doing the right thing. Today, Johnson did the right thing by funding the government,” Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) told Axios.]
But influential Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says a vote to save Johnson wouldn’t be something Democrats would “do for free.” After listing reasons — abortion, insurrection — that Johnson is an unsuitable choice for Speaker adjudged by Democrat principles, AOC says of saving Johnson: “I don’t think we do that out of sympathy for Republicans.” Note: Johnson holds the key — if it still fits — to continuing Ukraine aid that Democrats (and anti-Putin Republicans) have been blocked from sending.
AOC on Speaker Johnson Vacate Vote: I’m not inclined to vote for an individual who doesn’t believe in women’s rights, who supported overturning a presidential election.For any Democrat inclined, I don’t think we do that for free. pic.twitter.com/JspVf2938j
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 24, 2024
Ocasio-Cortez has backup from both Democrats and Republicans — if for very different reasons — that the GOP conference ostensibly under Johnson isn’t functioning effectively. Below, ardent anti-Trump Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff concurs (snarkily) with Rep. Greene’s assessment of House Republicans’ performance.
Even a badly broken clock… pic.twitter.com/AaAUz7oNB0
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 22, 2024