House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) suggested that he’s willing to move on from his disagreements with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after the Georgia Republican failed in her motion to vacate the speaker’s chair.
But even though the measure was defeated, it raises alarm bells for Mr. Johnson’s future leadership. Eleven Republicans voted to move forward on the motion—three more than voted to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October 2023.
Nevertheless, Mr. Johnson said he’s ready to move on from the issue and that he hopes he can work with Ms. Greene in the future.
“I told her last night before we left the floor: ‘Let’s move on, Marjorie. I’m OK with this. Let’s move on,’” he said.
Asked how Ms. Greene replied, Mr. Johnson said: “I think we‘ll have an opportunity to do that. We’ll see.”
Ms. Greene declined to answer when asked after the vote whether she would bring the measure up to the floor again later in the Congress.
But former President Donald Trump, a close ally of Ms. Greene, indicated ahead of the vote on May 8 that he thinks now is “not the time” to pursue a motion to vacate against Mr. Johnson.
Speaking on the broader issue of the motion to vacate, Mr. Johnson called it “unfortunate” that the measure was brought to the floor in the first place.
“I appreciate the overwhelming show of confidence by my colleagues to defeat that misguided effort,” Mr. Johnson said.
He also defended himself against allegations made by Ms. Greene about his conduct on a series of recent issues, citing Republicans’ slim majority as the reason that conservatives couldn’t get as many wins as they'd like.
“We advance our conservative policies and principles as far as we can here every single day ... in spite of the fact that we have the smallest majority in U.S. history,” Mr. Johnson said. “We can’t get 100 percent of what we want. And sometimes a handful of my colleagues demand that.
“It’s just not possible right now, but we’re fighting.”
Mr. Johnson was also asked about Democrats’ help in bailing him out.
Thirty-two of the 43 votes in favor of moving forward on the motion came from Democrats, but this represents a small fraction of the Democratic caucus. An overwhelming majority of Democrats voted to prop up Mr. Johnson’s speakership—a fact that distinguishes him from Mr. McCarthy, who received no Democratic support.
Asked why Democrats helped save him, Mr. Johnson replied, “I think the Democrats believe in the institution and they see exactly what we see, and the American people see: These are dangerous times.”
He added: “The country desperately needs a functioning Congress. We can’t afford the risk of shutting the House down.”
Mr. Johnson warned of the disastrous consequences that could result from such a move if China were to invade Taiwan or Iran were to fire a nuclear weapon at Israel.
“We need to be working here every day,” he said. “The chaos and confusion do nothing but diminish our chances to save this country and hurt our cause.”
