WASHINGTON
\nThe US House of Representatives on Wednesday swiftly and overwhelmingly defeated an effort by firebrand Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene to remove Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Republican, from his leadership role.
\nDemocrats joined Republicans in a 359-43 vote to protect Johnson\u2019s speakership, in a bid to avoid a replay of the chaos that occurred in October when Republicans ousted his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy.
\nGreene\u2019s move represented a rare Republican defiance of presidential candidate Donald Trump, who in a social media post following the House vote on Wednesday, said it was \u201cnot the time\u201d for Republicans to try to push out their own speaker.
\nGreene\u2019s measure, known as a motion to vacate, showcased the disorder that has marked Republicans\u2019 slim 217-213 House majority, particularly since it had been clear that the effort would fail given Democrats\u2019 opposition.
\n\u201cI appreciate the show of confidence from my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort,\u201d Johnson, 52, said following the vote. \u201cHopefully this is the end of the character assassination that has characterized the current Congress.\u201d
\nMultiple Republicans criticized Greene\u2019s move, including centrist Representative Marc Molinaro.
\n\u201cThis is not an individual who knows how to lead,\u201d Molinaro said of Greene. \u201cShe\u2019s not an individual who knows how to negotiate. And she certainly doesn\u2019t seem to have any concern for the stability of the Congress or the people we represent.\u201d
\nGreene stood flanked by fellow Republican Thomas Massie when she made her move against Johnson, criticizing him for a string of compromises with Democrats, who hold a majority in the Senate.
\n\u201cExcuses like \u2018this is just how you have to govern in divided government\u2019 are pathetic, weak and unacceptable,\u201d Greene said of Johnson. \u201cEven with our razor-thin Republican majority we could have at least secured the border.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The US House of Representatives on Wednesday 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 Johnson\u2019s speakership, in a bid to avoid a replay of the chaos that occurred […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-405879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n