Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his position on Friday, just months after ousting the previous speaker, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
CNN’s Manu Raju had the report of the resolution being introduced and later confirmed that it was a motion to vacate:
Unprecedented development if two sitting House Speakers are ousted in the same Congress. Marjorie Taylor Greene indeed just filed a motion to kick Mike Johnson out of the speakership amid of her anger about the handling of this spending bill that the House is now currently considering. Now, this is according to sources who told both me and my colleague Melanie Zanona. Now, this is incredibly significant because if more than two Republicans vote to oust Mike Johnson and all Democrats vote to oust Mike Johnson, that would … send this chamber into yet another state of paralysis.
What we witnessed last fall, about almost more than three weeks of no Speaker of the House, no action could be taken. That was the first time that ever happened in history, a sitting speaker ousted by his own colleagues. That happened to Kevin McCarthy. Can that happen again to Mike Johnson? That is still a question at this critical moment here, not just with funding the government, but also major issues that are hanging the balance in Ukraine, aid to Israel, which are stalled currently in this bitterly divided House.
Raju also reported that Zanona caught up with Johnson on Capitol Hill:
Mike Johnson did not have any reaction when Melanie Zanona just asked him in the hallways about this. He waved her question off.
Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman first confirmed that it was a motion to vacate on Twitter/X:
BREAKING NEWS — @RepMTG has filed a motion to vacate @SpeakerJohnson, according to multiple sources on the House floor.
Stay tuned for more info…..
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 22, 2024
Sherman expanded on the timeline of how the resolution could play out, which was also confirmed by Raju on Twitter/X:
Remember on motion to vacate: MTG has to go to a mic and call up the resolution. Then the leadership can delay the vote for two legislative days. That would put this until after recess, two+ weeks from now. https://t.co/xJUEnSVdnd
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 22, 2024
MTG files a resolution with House parliamentarian as she dangles threat to oust Mike Johnson from the speakership. She would have to be recognized to try to vacate the speakership and House would have to take action in two legislative days. House is slated to recess after this…
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 22, 2024
The move came after a build-up of complaints by Greene throughout the week, including a declaration by the MAGA-friendly congresswoman that the current Republican majority under Johnson’s leadership was a “complete failure.”
This story is breaking and has been updated.
