In a decisive vote on Wednesday afternoon, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, and rejected the motion to remove Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia.
With 359 votes against the motion, 43 votes in favor, and 7 present votes, the House passed a motion that tabled Greene’s motion to remove the Speaker, effectively preventing a vote on the motion.
The voting results were as expected, with both parties broadly opposing the removal of the Speaker. A total of 32 Democrats and 11 Republicans cast supporting votes.
Greene had proposed the motion to remove Johnson over a month ago, but after meeting with Johnson on Monday and Tuesday, she appeared to temporarily set aside the motion.
On Wednesday afternoon, Greene unexpectedly brought up the motion to remove Johnson, surprising her colleagues. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, promptly proposed to table the motion.
The Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, and many bills require bipartisan support, often relying on Democratic votes to pass. Prominent proposals within the Republican Party have encountered repeated obstacles, leading to dissatisfaction among hardliners within the party.
In the past few weeks, Greene has criticized Johnson’s government funding bills, the reauthorization of a surveillance program by the US government, and foreign aid programs including providing billions of dollars in assistance to Ukraine.
During her several hours of meetings with Johnson on Monday and Tuesday, Greene presented a series of demands to the Speaker, including only submitting bills to the House that are supported by a majority of Republican conference members, a commitment to not provide any additional aid to Ukraine, canceling funding for special prosecutors, and a promise to cut 1% of expenditures if Congress fails to complete regular appropriations procedures by September 30.
Johnson later told the media, “We are looking into many ideas and suggestions,” but he had not publicly committed to these demands before Greene triggered the motion.