Some House Democrats signaled over the weekend they could be willing to help House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) try to keep his job amid an ouster threat from hard-right members of his caucus.
“I would actually vote to table any motion to vacate him,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I disagree with Speaker Johnson on many issues and have been very critical of him. But he did the right thing here, and he deserves to keep his job until the end of this term,” he said.
On Saturday, the House passed a $95 billion bipartisan package that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) also implied he would oppose Johnson’s removal.
He called out the three far-right Republicans, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), who are advocating for it, suggesting such a move would only embolden U.S. adversaries like Russia.
Several other Democrats also suggested they may not support Johnson’s ouster, including Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.).
Suozzi told the Daily Beast it would demonstrate that the “chaos caucus doesn’t have the power that they think they have.”
Greene is fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine in its war with Russia and had threatened to file a “motion to vacate” Johnson’s chair if he allowed a vote on the package.
Greene said Sunday she now plans to do so, telling Fox News, “Mike Johnson’s leadership is over.”
During the Sunday show rounds, other House Democrats indicated they would not help Johnson keep his job.
“There’s no circumstance where I’m gonna support a far-right extremist Republican for speaker,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) told MSNBC, adding that “other Democrats might feel differently because of the vote, and I understand that.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) applauded Johnson for recognizing it was “time to be an adult” on the aid bill, but said that would not change how she’d vote should Republicans initiate another motion to vacate.
“We don’t do things for you or save you because you did the bare minimum of doing your job,” she said on MSNBC.
The $60.8 billion package of aid for Ukraine passed with the support of all Democrats and 101 Republicans. A majority of Republicans — 112 members — voted against it.
Last year, when a small contingent of House Republicans forced a vote to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), all Democrats present joined them in voting for his removal.
Republicans’ slim majority has since become even more narrow. Greene needs only a few Republican votes to kick Johnson out — unless Democrats step in to save him.
