Tipsheet

Another Republican Signs on to Oust Johnson

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 19, 2024 12:45 PM

The House on Friday morning made it that much easier to pass Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) foreign aid bills, with a vote to actually pass the bills expected for Saturday. Ahead of such a vote, though, the House voted 316-94 on a rule change so that the bills could pass with only a majority support. 

Tellingly, more Republicans voted against the rule change than supported it. The rule change also had more support from Democrats than Republicans in the chamber that Republicans just barely control due to the amount of early resignations and last December's expulsion of now former Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who was replaced by Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi.

Fox News' Chad Pergram called the show of Democratic support "[e]xtraordinary," also noting it was "a test vote not only on the aid package, but also to signal that some Dems would be willing to protect Johnson."

The vote on the rule change from the full House comes after the House Rules Committee passed the rule change just hours before, also with bipartisan support. Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) were among those adamantly opposed. This comes after the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) released an official statement on Thursday opposing the rule change, meaning that 80 percent of their members had to sign on. 

Johnson may need that support from Democrats in order for him to not just see bills passed, but for him to hold onto his gavel. It certainly looks possible, and not only given how 165 Democrats voted in favor of the rule change on Friday. Last month, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed her motion to vacate the chair, there were House Democrats who quickly communicated their support for Johnson. The month before that, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) had also suggested his members would help Johnson remain as speaker if he brought Ukrainian aid for a vote. He did not grant the same assistance to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) when he was ousted last October. 

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There does look to be a loss of support for Johnson in real time. Not long after the rule change passed, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) announced that he was supporting Greene's effort to vacate the chair. He joins Massie in supporting her move, who announced earlier this week that he was doing so. 

Greene, Gosar, Massie, and Roy were all among the 94 "no" votes, 55 of them coming from Republicans, who voted against the rule change. 

Should the foreign aid bills indeed pass the House on Saturday, they will quickly head to the Senate where they're expected to pass. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), couldn't be bothered to uphold his precedence and his constitutional duty in even just holding a trial for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached by the House in February. But, he's hoping to pass the foreign aid bills and FISA extension over the weekend "without further delay."