House quickly kills Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to unseat President Johnson

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene officially began a vote Wednesday on her motion to unseat House Speaker Mike Johnson, but within minutes Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in overwhelmingly rejecting her measure.

There were audible boos from lawmakers in the chamber as Greene spoke at length about her grievances with Johnson while calling for a vote.

The Georgia congresswoman, flanked by co-sponsoring Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, claimed that Johnson had “not kept a single one” of the promises he made at the Republican conference after being elected to the top job in October.

“By endorsing the Democrats’ agenda and hamstringing Republicans’ ability and influence on legislation, our Republican President-elect Mike Johnson has aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country,” Greene said.

Johnson was in the House with his leadership team as Greene read her resolution.

The House quickly moved to hold a vote on a motion to introduce, or effectively overturn, Greene’s effort to unseat Johnson. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise rose to request a vote on introducing Greene’s resolution, which passed with bipartisan support.

The final vote to dismiss Greene’s motion was 359-43 with seven lawmakers present. Lawmakers applauded when the count was read.

Eleven Republicans and 32 Democrats voted against overriding Greene’s motion.

Johnson joked with reporters after the vote, saying “it’s just another Wednesday at the Capitol.”

The speaker called Greene’s resolution a “misguided effort” and thanked his colleagues for supporting him.

“Hopefully, this is the end of the personality politics and frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress. It’s unfortunate. It’s not about who we are as Americans and we’re better than this. We need to move beyond that.” Johnson said. saying.

Greene told ABC News chief congressional correspondent Rachel Scott after the vote that she was not surprised by the vote against her motion to vacate the speaker’s chair.

“I think this is exactly what the American people needed to see,” he said.

“I didn’t run for Congress to come here and join the one-party system, and the one-party system was on full display today,” he added. “In fact, (the Republican Party) showed that it is willing to do anything with the Democrats.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party’s decision to help save Johnson’s job was aimed at restoring common sense and quelling chaos in Washington.

“Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from plunging the House of Representatives and the country into further chaos is based on our commitment to solving the problems of ordinary Americans in a bipartisan manner,” the New York congressman told the journalists. “We need more common sense and less chaos in Washington, DC. Marjorie Taylor Greene and MAGA Republican extremists are agents of chaos.”

Asked repeatedly whether Democrats would vote to save Johnson again if more motions to impeach him are brought forward, or whether Democrats would demand concessions from Johnson to do so in the future, Jeffries said “the vote clearly speaks for itself.”

“It was a vote of conscience. It was overwhelming. It was decisive. And we need to move forward as a Congress,” he added.

Greene did not respond when asked if she plans to try to oust Johnson again.

Former President Donald Trump, who backed Johnson during her dispute with Greene, said in a post on Truth Social that now was not the time to file motions to vacate.

“If we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything! Mike Johnson is a good man who is trying very hard. I also wish certain things were done during the last two month period, but we will get it done together,” he claimed.

However, Greene said she was grateful for Trump’s support.

Greene’s move on Wednesday was a sudden change in tactics after she appeared to be backing off her week-long threat, following back-to-back meetings with Johnson on Monday and Tuesday.

Between meetings, he had given Johnson a list of demands he wanted implemented, which included no more aid to Ukraine and defunding the office of special counsel Jack Smith.

ABC News’ Allison Pecorin and Rachel Scott contributed to this report.