Some Democrats are suggesting they would vote against any motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) after he supported a multibillion-dollar Ukraine aid bill on Saturday.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) expressed her support with Johnson after he sided with Democrats in passing a $60 billion Ukrainian aid package that received backlash from Republicans.
All 210 Democrats voted in favor of the bill on Saturday— with none voting against it.
ABC’s “This Week” host Jonathan Karl asked Khanna if Johnson deserves credit for cutting a foreign country a check despite America’s own borders being overrun and overwhelmed.
“He does. Look, we came into Congress together and he always cared about civility. He actually led the civility pledge. And he – we had one issue, which was to give individual votes. Don’t lump things together. And I give him credit for doing this,” Khanna said. “I would actually vote to table any motion to vacate him. You know, Congressman McCaul quoted Churchill. One of the things Churchill said is that America always exhausted every wrong option until doing the right thing. And this shows that American democracy still is very strong.”
It is important to note that the bill provided no assistance to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Johnson was lambasted after pushing forth the bill by Republican colleagues, accusing him of being in bed with the Democrat Party.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) accused Johnson of not caring about the United States or the American people, “our border, our jobs, our economy, or our national security.”
She said that Johnson had betrayed the country, doubling down on her efforts to vacate him from his speakership.
Khanna said that she believes her fellow Democrats would join her in protecting Johnson’s job, saying that he deserves to keep his speakership until at least the end of his term.
Before the House floor vote, several Democrat lawmakers suggested they would weigh the prospect of helping Johnson save his job if he were to advance the massive Ukrainian aid bill.
Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) indicated that he would help to protect Johnson from his party’s efforts to oust him.
Meanwhile, Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) said that if Johnson would vote in favor of the bill, “I would do what I had to do to make sure he does not lose his job for that.”
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) also said that he is “one of those who would save him if we can do Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine and some reasonable border security.”
On the contrary, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) said that he told Johnson during a closed-door Republican conference meeting that he would be co-sponsoring Greene’s motion to vacate him from his speakership. Massie suggested Johnson “should pre-announce his resignation” and give Republicans time to select a successor.
In response to the heat Johnson has faced, he told reporters that he does “not spend time walking around thinking about the motion to vacate,” adding “I have a job to do here and I’m going to do the job, regardless of personal consequences.”
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