Democrats vow to block Marjorie Taylor Greene effort to remove House speaker

Democratic leaders in the US House of Representatives vowed that the Georgia extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene “will not succeed” if she triggers an attempt to remove the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, from his role.

In response, Greene promised to press on in her quest to show Johnson the door.

Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic minority leader, made his position clear on Tuesday in a statement with other party leaders that cited Johnson’s recent success in passing aid to Ukraine and other US allies despite opposition from the far right of Republican ranks.

“From the very beginning of this Congress,” they said, “House Democrats have put people over politics and found bipartisan common ground with traditional Republicans in order to deliver real results. At the same time, House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against Maga [pro-Trump] extremism. We will continue to do just that.

“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of pro-Putin Republican obstruction. We will vote to table Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate the chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”

Greene filed her motion to vacate, the mechanism by which a speaker can be removed, last month, after Johnson relied on Democratic votes to pass government funding.

Since then, the Louisiana rightwinger has overseen passage of foreign aid and the extension of federal surveillance powers and taken other steps to which far-right Republicans object.

Johnson retains support from Donald Trump but Greene, an ardent Trump ally who has floated herself to be his running mate, has vowed to press ahead.

She wants to subject Johnson to the same fate as his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, who in October became the first speaker ever ejected by his own party.

She has, however, gained support for immediate action from just two fellow rightwingers – Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona – with even the hard-right Freedom Caucus indicating that it does not support an attempt to remove Johnson now.

In response to the Democrats’ statement, Greene issued a lengthy statement of her own – and vowed to press on in her quest to show Johnson the door.

“Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat speaker of the House,” she said, using the wrong term for the Democratic party, which Republicans deliberately employ as a pejorative.

Greene added: “What slimy back room deal did Johnson make for the Democrats’ support? He should resign [and] switch parties … If the Democrats want to elect him speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it.”

She also alluded to rightwing conspiracy theories about the “deep state” or “uniparty”, which hold that a permanent government of operatives and bureaucrats exists to thwart the populist right.

“I’m a big believer in recorded votes because putting Congress on record allows every American to see the truth and provides transparency to our votes,” Greene said. “Americans deserve to see the uniparty on full display. I’m about to give them their coming-out party!”