Jeffries Suggests Democrats Could Save Johnson’s Speakership

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested on April 11 that Democrats would come to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) rescue were there to be a motion to strip him of the gavel.

“If the speaker were to do the right thing and allow the House to work its will with an up or down vote on the national security bill, then I believe there are a reasonable number of Democrats who would not want to see the speaker fall as a result of doing the right thing,” he told reporters.

However, Mr. Jeffries said that this is an “observation” and not a “declaration,” as there would need to be a conversation before deciding how to proceed.

Mr. Jeffries’s comments come a day after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) met with Mr. Johnson behind closed doors only weeks after filing that motion to vacate, though she has not brought it to the floor. Ms. Greene has expressed frustration with Mr. Johnson on numerous issues, including Ukraine assistance, renewal of FISA Section 702, and the $1.2 trillion bill to fund most of the government.

The $95 billion national security package the Senate passed in February has stalled in the House as Republicans have criticized the Ukraine portion. The legislation also includes assistance for Israel, Gaza, and the Indo-Pacific.

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There are Democrats who have said or suggested that they would vote for Mr. Johnson to remain speaker were Ms. Greene to move with the motion to vacate.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) told multiple outlets he would vote to save Mr. Johnson’s speakership.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently told CNN that Mr. Johnson would not have a free get-out-of-jail card.

“I don’t think we do that for free, and I don’t think that we do that out of sympathy for Republicans,” she said, though she noted she’d likely vote for Mr. Jeffries.

Ms. Greene’s meeting with Mr. Johnson did not result in any resolution.

Speaking with reporters following the meeting, Ms. Greene reiterated her frustration with Mr. Johnson’s tenure as speaker.

She told reporters that she had told Mr. Johnson he had broken the House GOP’s “trust.”

Ms. Greene remained ambiguous about whether she would bring the motion to vacate to the floor. She said the bill to reauthorize the controversial Section 702 of FISA, which allows surveillance abroad that has come under fire for what critics say is spying on Americans, and assistance for Ukraine are unacceptable, although she said she did not give him “a red line.”