WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives on May 8 swiftly and overwhelmingly defeated an effort by firebrand Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene to remove Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Republican, from his leadership role.

Democrats joined Republicans in a 359-43 vote to protect Mr Johnson’s speakership, in a bid to avoid a replay of the chaos that occurred in October when Republicans ousted his predecessor, Mr Kevin McCarthy.

Mrs Greene’s move represented a rare Republican defiance of presidential candidate Donald Trump, who in a social media post following the House vote on May 8 said it was “not the time” for Republicans to try to push out their own speaker.

Mrs Greene’s measure, known as a motion to vacate, showcased the disorder that has marked Republicans’ slim 217-213 House majority, particularly since it had been clear that the effort would fail given Democrats’ opposition.

“I appreciate the show of confidence from my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort,” Mr Johnson, 52, said following the vote. “Hopefully this is the end of the character assassination that has characterised the current Congress.”

Multiple Republicans criticised Mrs Greene’s move, including centrist Representative Marc Molinaro.

“This is not an individual who knows how to lead,” Mr Molinaro said of Mrs Greene. “She’s not an individual who knows how to negotiate. And she certainly doesn’t seem to have any concern for the stability of the Congress or the people we represent.”

Mrs Greene stood flanked by fellow Republican Thomas Massie when she made her move against Mr Johnson, criticising him for a string of compromises with Democrats, who hold a majority in the Senate.

“Excuses like ‘this is just how you have to govern in divided government’ are pathetic, weak and unacceptable,” Mrs Greene said of Mr Johnson. “Even with our razor-thin Republican majority we could have at least secured the border.”

Taunts and jeers

The chamber erupted in taunts and cheers at points as Mrs Greene read her resolution, with Democrats at times chanting “Hakeem, Hakeem”, a reference to their party leader, Mr Hakeem Jeffries, in an echo of the many times they voted for him as speaker during Republicans’ multiple rounds of voting for speaker since the current House was seated in January 2021.

Mr Johnson has angered many hardliners by enacting bipartisan spending measures to avoid government shutdowns and aid US allies including Ukraine, without insisting on strict security measures for the US-Mexico border that Democrats reject.

The House Republicans’ border security Bill had no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate.

A bipartisan compromise Bill negotiated in late 2023 and in early 2024 in the Senate, with the Biden administration’s approval, was killed by House and Senate Republicans at Trump’s behest.

Mr Johnson could be seen walking around the House floor after Mrs Greene began her call on May 8 for his ouster, with Republican supporters shaking his hand and patting him on the back.

“Republicans have to be fighting the Radical Left Democrats, and all the Damage they have done to our Country,” Trump said in his May 8 post. “We’re not in a position of voting on a Motion to Vacate. At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time.”

The situation has bolstered Mr Jeffries, who agreed to save Mr Johnson from ouster after freeing Congress from the roadblock of Republican infighting by delivering crucial Democratic support for must-pass Bills.

Mrs Greene in remarks to reporters after the vote did not rule out trying to oust Mr Johnson again.

For his part, Mr Jeffries said he hoped to see House Republicans turn against party hardliners, saying: “The only thing we ask of our House Republican colleagues is for traditional Republicans to further isolate the extreme Maga Republican wing of the GOP, which has visited nothing but chaos and dysfunction on the American people.” REUTERS