CNN
—
House Democrats may save Mike Johnson's chairmanship, but he first needs to outline a path to approving aid to Ukraine, multiple Democratic sources told CNN.
If Johnson says he will work on the Senate's $95 billion aid package, Democrats will vote in droves to keep him in office, sources said.
But Johnson has already signaled he is open to another bipartisan plan being floated in the House of Commons, and has given Republican MPs the possibility of scheduling time to speak on the plan once MPs return from Easter break. I have already told you that I have sex.
But the bipartisan plan has generated little enthusiasm among Democrats, largely because of new border security restrictions, including the return of the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy. Additionally, Johnson has said he would turn aid to Ukraine into loans to the country, an idea that originated with former President Donald Trump and has sparked skepticism from Democrats.
A Democratic Party official said a small number of Democrats may choose to save Mr. Johnson if he tries to move forward with the House version.
Although the exact timing remains unclear, the first procedural vote to remove Johnson from office was a “motion to the table,” or murder, on fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's resolution to vacate the speakership. It is expected that it will take the form of Democrats are considering whether to kill the resolution in the first procedural vote, but insist they need to hear the speaker publicly explain his intentions regarding aid to Ukraine.
“If he acted responsibly, which is to allow members of Congress to vote on bills that would pass and are in our national security interests, and then to allow non-serious people who do not want to govern If a party like you brings a motion,” Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Virginia, told CNN.
At a Friday meeting before Green announced her intention to force a vote to force Johnson out of office, she had already told Republicans she was ready to launch a package to help Ukraine when she returned. However, it is unclear what form that package will take.
“Mr. Johnson said it will be discussed on the floor when we come back,” Indiana Republican Rep. Greg Pence told CNN after speaking with Mr. Johnson on Friday morning. “And I think that's a good thing.”
Several House Republicans have also warned that they could lose the House in November if Greene moves to remove Johnson from office, although some hawks believe that ultimately I am considering whether to vote for his removal from office.
Greene suggested Sunday that she may not even be able to force a vote this Congress.
“I filed an eviction complaint, but I haven't called yet,” she said on Fox News. “(I am) informing the conference that we need to find a new speaker. This could take weeks, it could take months, and it might not happen until the next Congress. However, Speaker Johnson cannot remain Speaker of the House.”
Greene did not introduce the resolution before the House went into a two-week recess on Friday. That means Congress' two-day clock to force a vote has not yet begun. It is ultimately up to Greene to decide when and whether to force a vote.
Pence said the chaos in the House of Representatives is driving people away from politics.
“When people go home, they say they're tired of what's going on here and they're not following it anymore. When I talked about it with my colleagues on the floor this week, they heard the same thing. ” he said. “These games turn people off because they are uncoordinated. And we want people to get involved in politics, but we are working in the wrong direction. .”
Asked if that might cost him the majority, Pence said: That's possible, right? That doesn't help. ”
Meanwhile, House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Greene told CNN: …I think it's a distraction. What we need is, unfortunately, this bill passed, there's a lot of other work to be done, some clauses to be looked at…we don't need anything to stand in the way of that. there is no. ”
He said he hopes Greene ultimately decides not to put the resolution to a vote. “I don't think that's going to be allowed this time. I mean, we'll see what happens, but I don't think that's going to happen.”
But Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the House Republican campaign arm, downplayed the damage another speaker fight could cause in an election year. “I don't think people in the real world outside of this bubble that we're in right now care about who the Speaker of the House is as much as they care about how expensive things are to buy. “They need it for their families,'' he said. “Despite what is happening on the floor of the House every day, we are going to expand this House majority.”
He insisted that despite threats to oust him, “Chairman Johnson will remain chairman.” “For the House to function, we need a speaker. So we need speakers, and I think Speaker Johnson is an outstanding speaker, so I'm a supporter of his. “I think we can overcome it,” he added.
Some hardliners are considering whether to vote for Johnson's removal if it comes up. “I'm open to that conversation,” said Rep. Eli Crane, one of eight Republicans who voted to expel former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last fall.
Rep. Chip Roy appeared reluctant Sunday to support Rep. Greene's motion to resign. But Roy said “Mike was wrong” for not giving members a full 72 hours to consider the funding package.
“I very publicly, very loudly, to my colleagues on the right and to my entire body, opposed the use of a motion to resign against Kevin McCarthy,” the Texas Republican told CNN's Jake Tapper. He spoke in the State of the Union.
But Roy avoided directly saying whether he would support his former House Freedom Caucus colleague's motion, instead criticizing the media for focusing on “the drama inside the Beltway Palace.”
Congressman Ralph Norman also indicated he was still considering it. “Let's see what happens. Look, I'm going to take this minute by minute,” he said. Asked if he was comfortable overthrowing their leadership at this point, Norman replied: Let's see how we conclude on this bill. Let's see what he does and go from there. ”
He added: “Anything is possible.”
Mr McCarthy told Mr Johnson on Sunday that he “doesn't have to fear” there could be a vote to oust him from the speakership. “I don't think they can do it again,” McCarthy said on CBS' “Face the Nation.”
“I don't think Democrats would go along with that,” McCarthy added. “Focus on the country. Focus on the job that needs to be done and don't be afraid to actually do it. Just move forward.”
CNN’s Sam Fossum, Morgan Rimmer and Avery Lotz contributed to this report.