Marjorie Taylor Greene's effort to oust Johnson as House speaker fails

WASHINGTON — An overwhelmingly bipartisan coalition has put a stop to U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's effort remove Mike Johnson as House speaker.

The vote to table the Georgia Republican’s motion to vacate was 259 in favor and 43 opposed. Greene and 10 other Republicans voted against the motion to table. So did 32 Democrats.

But the vast majority of House members decided to kill Greene’s efforts, a resounding rebuke after she railed for weeks against Johnson’s leadership.

Both Republican and Democratic colleagues booed loudly as Greene, a Republican from Rome, laid out her case against Johnson during a speech on the House floor Wednesday afternoon. She was interrupted by jeers several times as she spoke.

Although Greene knew that her motion to vacate was likely to fail, Greene said previously that she wanted the vote to happen anyway so that voters can know where their lawmakers stand on the issue. She is expected to address the media later this evening.

Earlier this week, Greene had put a pause on her efforts to remove Johnson as speaker. The two met privately on Monday.

She asked him to make four assurances to prevent the ouster vote, such as to not bring to the floor any additional money to help Ukraine in its war with Russia and to agree not to send bills to the floor that don’t have the support of a majority of Republicans.

Neither she nor Johnson confirmed whether an agreement was reached.

But in a surprise move on Wednesday, Greene moved forward with the vote on her motion to vacate.

Now that her effort has failed, it is unclear how Greene will proceed. She can file another motion to vacate at anytime. Democrats who helped save Johnson have indicated they may not keep the same posture if multiple votes are called.

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