After the House passed legislation to send more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine and $26 billion to Israel, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is fighting to retain the speakership amid threats from his Republican colleagues, but, in a surprising move, a prominent House Democrat expressed his inclination to help the House speaker keep his job.
Jonson’s decision to send additional foreign aid to Ukraine has angered House Republicans, who oppose sending more taxpayer funds to other countries.
The House speaker’s decision to cast the tiebreaking vote against an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that would permit federal agencies to surveil Americans without a warrant also angered conservatives.
Johnson’s moves come after Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) threatened to initiate a motion to remove him from the speakership. The motion to vacate successfully removed Johnson’s predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the position.
RedState noted that if Greene and Massie filed such a motion, it’d unlikely succeed the way it did with McCarthy.
House Democrats have said they are willing to help Johnson keep his job since he helped pass a multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine.
During an interview with MSNBC, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) suggested that he could be “inclined” to support Johnson if Greene and other Republicans tried to remove him from the speakership.
MSNBC host Michael Steele discussed the complaints and attacks against Johnson coming from his fellow Republicans for passing a foreign aid package. The host claimed that because the House speaker “is doing the right thing,” he “may pay a political price within his own caucus for it.”
“How are Democrats assessing the politics of this moment,” Steele asked.
“I think we’ll have to wait and see. If this is an evolution rather than the revolution, then I’m inclined to be supportive, though I’m going to follow the leadership of Hakeem Jeffrey. He’s in the room. I’m not in those rooms anymore, and I will talk with him or continue to talk with him to see exactly how we ought to conduct ourselves,” Clyburn responded.
Rep. James Clyburn explains why he might support House Speaker Mike Johnson if Republican lawmakers try to oust him.
"I think we'll have to wait and see. If this is an evolution rather than the revolution, then I'm inclined to be supportive." pic.twitter.com/TmXdYsmnIP
— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) April 21, 2024
“After this vote is over today, I’m interested in seeing how the speaker reacts to the votes. If you recall, what got Kevin McCarthy in trouble was the way he reacted to the votes,” he added.
