A large bipartisan majority booed Trumpist Marjorie Taylor Greene when she introduced the motion to impeach the speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson. And a very large majority – 163 Democrats and 196 Republicans – voted minutes later against it, with a result of 359 votes in favor, 43 against and 7 blank.
With this forcefulness, the US Congress has saved from burning a speaker who has only been in office for seven months, which he assumed after the dismissal of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, also promoted by the far-right sector of the Republican Party and approved unanimously. democrat. On this occasion, however, the liberals have chosen to protect the conservative leader, contributing to the stability of the chamber.
The latest rebellion of the hard wing, which has made this Congress the most ungovernable in decades, began after Johnson brought to a vote last month the aid package for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific, valued at 95 billion dollars, after months of opposing and pressured by the extremist sector. For its part, the motion of no confidence introduced in October against McCarthy occurred after the budget agreement reached with President Joe Biden to avoid a government shutdown.
As evening fell on the Capitol, Greene heard an orchestra of laughter and boos in the background as she read her list of grievances against Johnson, whom she has accused of being a “false Republican” for prioritizing foreign aid over America First, the flagship motto of her ally. Donald Trump. “When he has to choose between Republican priorities or allying with the Democrats to preserve his own power, Johnson regularly chooses the Democrats,” he denounced, and continued with his formal announcement: “I call for you to consider that the position of president of the House of Representatives is declared vacant.”
The vote began immediately and soon confirmed that Greene did not have the support of her colleagues even to bring the proposal to consideration. In this election year, Republicans have wanted to show unity around Johnson’s leadership. Matt Gaetz’s historic motion in October had better luck, which resulted in 216 votes in favor and 210 against, and which, unlike this one, received explicit support from Trump.
The Republican candidate has spent the weekend trying to mediate between two politicians loyal to his parish, Johnson and Greene, but he has not prevented the congresswoman’s attempted rebellion. The speaker, a career lawyer, led the attempt in 2020 to reverse Biden’s victory in the elections through legal means, and has repeatedly defended that they were rigged. Despite this, and his profile as an anti-abortion ultraconservative, the Democrats have saved him his position as a reward for allowing the vote on aid to Ukraine, which was approved with a majority of Republicans against.
