MTG To Bring Motion To Vacate Against Speaker Johnson Next Week

Republican hardliners Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) are holding a press conference where they are outlining their reasons behind their plan to move an already-filed Motion to Vacate the Chair against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Says that since becoming speaker, Johnson “has become a man that none of us recognize”. Taylor Greene confirms that she will be calling the motion to vacate next week.

• The efforts to remove Johnson highlight the long-standing divisions within the Republican party between right-wing hardliners such as Taylor-Greeene and the party leadership. Indeed, Politico reports that RNC co-chair Michael Whatley appealed to Taylor-Greene to step back from the point of moving a M-t-V against Johnson, seemingly to little impact.
• Any M-t-V is unlikely to succeed, given Democrat leadership has said that it will vote against bringing such a motion to a vote. In a statement on 30 April, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other senior House Dems said that “At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction. We will vote to table [Greene’s] Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,”
• Crucially, Johnson has sought the cover of former President Donald Trump to avoid a larger GOP backlash to the passing of gov't funding bills, FISA renewal, and Ukraine military aid. Trump's defence of Johnson following the national security supplemental passage could prove crucial in detering Republican representatives from backing Taylor Greene's M-t-V.