Congressmen reject attempt to remove Speaker Mike Johnson

On Wednesday, May 8, an overwhelming number of members of the House of Representatives rejected a proposal by far-right Republicans to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from his post for his decision to put a bill to provide a large aid package to Ukraine to a vote.

The proposal was initiated by MP Marjorie Taylor Greene, who accused Johnson of refusing to defend Republican priorities. The main complaint against Johnson was his agreement to pass in the House of Representatives a bill on military assistance to Ukraine, which was opposed by the majority of Republicans. The bill passed Congress about three weeks ago with overwhelming support from Democrats. Taylor reproached Johnson for allying with Democrats to maintain his post.

However, the attempt to deprive Mike Johnson of the post of speaker was rejected not only by Democrats, but also by an overwhelming number of Republicans.

“As I’ve said from the beginning, I’m committed to doing my job. I’m committed to doing what I believe is right. That’s what I was elected to do. That’s what being a leader means in my opinion,” he said. after the vote, Mike Johnson thanked his colleagues for their support.

This was the second attempt in the last seven months by several far-right Republicans to remove the speaker, who was ready to compromise with Democrats in legislative activities.

The first one was successful. Last fall, for the first time in the history of Congress, Republican Kevin McCarthy was deprived of his post, after which the Republicans were unable to elect a new speaker for several weeks, and all congressional activities were frozen. Almost none of the Republicans wanted a repeat of this situation shortly before the election. Even Donald Trump, whose closest political ally is Marjorie Taylor Greene, came out in support of Johnson, emphasizing the need to avoid chaos that would negatively affect the Republicans’ election chances at the moment. But he did not rule out stripping Johnson of the speakership in the future.

According to analysts, Johnson most likely will not retain this post if the Republicans win the congressional elections this fall.