U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) today brought a Motion to Vacate against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in a protest against the $1.2 trillion spending bill passed by the House in a 286-134 vote. Despite bringing the motion — the same motion that saw Johnson’s Republican predecessor Kevin McCarthy ousted from the Speakership — Greene called her move a “more of a warning than a pink slip.”
Greene and members of her former group, the House Freedom Caucus, including Reps. Scott Perry (PA) and Tim Burchett (TN), had energetically encouraged Republicans to vote against the bill, with Greene predicting that any Republican voting for the bill would be “absolutely obliterated by their districts.”
Perry noted that the bill would provide 22,000 new Border Patrol Agents and 41,500 new detention facility beds — which the MAGA Congressman lamented would give Democrats something to boast about during this election cycle.
Scott Perry says Republicans should vote against this bill because it provides for 23,000 new Border Patrol Agents and 41,500 new detention facility beds, and this will give Democrats something to run on in the upcoming election. pic.twitter.com/YT4WJbyvqT
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) March 22, 2024
Former Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who now works as a senior political commentator on CNN, suggested on X that Speaker “Johnson should put the aid package on the floor NOW in exchange for dem votes to save him.”
Johnson has been blocking congressional approval for U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Kinzinger proposes a path by which the Speaker could evade any real threat from Greene’s motion to vacate by trading a vote on aid for protection from Democrats against his ouster.
Johnson should put the aid package on the floor NOW in exchange for dem votes to save him https://t.co/qxfc0PKHV3
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) (@AdamKinzinger) March 22, 2024
[NOTE: When he was office, Kinzinger — a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard — consistently voted in favor of American support for Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion. When in 2022, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy declared the party would not “write a blank check” to Ukraine should they retake the House, Kinzinger accused him of “giving aid and comfort to the enemy, intentionally or unintentionally.”]
This afternoon, after the bill was passed, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) told CNN he would vote to save Speaker Johnson. “It’s absurd that’s he’s being kicked out for doing the right thing.” CNN’s Manu Raju reports that “several Dems signaling they’ll save Mike Johnson — especially if he moves on Ukraine aid.”
Several Dems signaling they’ll save Mike Johnson — especially if he moves on Ukraine aid.
Tom Suozzi tells me he will vote to save him pic.twitter.com/8y53xNEb1j
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 22, 2024