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Democrats have made it official: they will come to the rescue of Speaker Mike Johnson should Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene force her motion to oust him to the House floor.
A game-changing email circulated among House Democrats Tuesday morning, essentially deflating Greene's headline-grabbing threat: 'We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.'
A successful vote to table the motion prevents it from proceeding to a final vote.
Greene, in response, said she will force a vote on the House floor.
'Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat Speaker of the House. Here is their official endorsement of his Speakership. What slimy back room deal did Johnson make for the Democrats’ support?' she wrote on X.
Democrats have made it official: they will come to the rescue of Speaker Mike Johnson should Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene force her motion to oust him to the House floor
'If the Democrats want to elect him Speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen Speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it.'
'I’m a big believer in recorded votes because putting Congress on record allows every American to see the truth and provides transparency to our votes. Americans deserve to see the Uniparty on full display. I’m about to give them their coming out party!'
She filed a motion to vacate in late March and has been waiting in the wings to take the speaker down ever since.
A game-changing email circulated among House Democrats Tuesday morning, essentially deflating Greene's headline-grabbing threat: 'We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed'
Two other Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., joined on to Greene's effort after he put $60 billion in Ukraine funding on the House floor.
A handful of others, Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., have refused to say how they would vote. Johnson could only afford to lose two GOP votes and remain speaker if he did not have Democratic help.
Democrats are offering their motion to table in return for Johnson putting Ukraine aid on the floor.
'I don't think we give these things away for free,' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters.
'I do think that the vote on Ukraine aid has weighed heavily on many members of the caucus. I also think the fact that the person bringing the motion is Marjorie Taylor Greene, which has also felt like, who are we going to vote throw our support for, which is a rock and a hard place for a lot of members.'
Johnson told reporters he had not spoken to Democrats about saving him and did not cut any deals with them to do so.
'This is the first I've heard of it,' he said.
But Democrats swooping in to save a Republican speaker could have political implications down the line.
Asked if he was comfortable being saved by Democrats, Johnson said: 'You hope you have the support of everyone, the entire country. ..The speaker of the House serves the whole body. I am a conservative Republican, a lifelong conservative Republican.'
The last motion to vacate that ended Speaker Kevin McCarthy's career left the House paralyzed for three speakerless weeks. 'We want to turn the page,' insisted Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar. 'We don’t want Marjorie Taylor Greene to dictate the schedule.'