Over In MAGAdonia, The Natives Are Getting Very, Very Restless... And Self-Destructive

Do Georgia Voters Ever Wonder Why Traitor Greene Works So Hard For Russia?

MAGA Mayk is in plenty of trouble; his far right fringe is preparing to try to oust him. That means the only way he remains speaker is if Hakeem Jeffries decides to give him Democratic votes. Johnson was so weirded out by Thomas Massie co-sponsoring Moscow Marge’s motion to vacate the chair that he actually announced at a press conference that he isn’t resigning (Massie’s suggestion): “I am not resigning. And it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs. It is not helpful to the cause, it is not helpful to the country, it does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda, which is in the best interest of the American people here— a secure border, sound governance– and it’s not helpful to the unity that we have in the body.”

One Member told me he doesn’t think it’s as much about ideology or even Putin as it is that Massie is a closet atheist and he just got sick of Johnson’s “holier-than-thou, bible-belting crap.” Imagine if he gets deposed over that!

Yesterday, Marianna Sotomayor and Leigh Ann Caldwell reported that his job is in “serious jeopardy.” They wrote that “Massie said he had warned the speaker in a private conversation ‘weeks ago’ that if the motion to oust him is called to the floor, and Democrats do not help bail him out, Republicans would be successful in removing him as speaker because ‘we’re steering everything toward what [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer wants. The motion is going to get called, okay? Does anybody doubt that? The motion will get called, and then he’s going to lose more votes than Kevin McCarthy,’ Massie said.”

[T]he speaker faces a double-barreled threat jeopardizing both his job and the key foreign aid bills. On both issues, Johnson can lose only two Republicans. That majority will be even slimmer— one vote— after Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) has resigned by the end of business Friday.

The effort to remove Johnson, if Greene moves forward with it, would surely further divide an already fractured conference that has proven extraordinarily difficult to manage. House Republicans have already ousted one speaker in the last year and struggled to pass legislation.

“The last thing this country needs is to throw a speaker out, although I disagree with what he’s doing … I wouldn’t put the country through that,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, said.

Greene can trigger her motion to vacate at any time. It would have to be voted on within 48 hours.

If Greene has more than two Republican votes to topple Johnson, Democrats will be critical to saving the speaker’s job. They helped to tank McCarthy’s speakership when they voted in unison alongside eight Republicans to oust him.

Democrats have signaled they will help pass the rule to consider the foreign aid measures, but only if those measures are identical to the Senate-approved package. They’ve expressed similar sentiments about saving Johnson’s job if he moves a robust foreign aid bill.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told his Democratic caucus Tuesday morning that Democrats would not support “a penny less” than what’s currently in the Senate bill for humanitarian relief. Democrats have been told the bill will include $9 billion in humanitarian aid, which is the same amount as the Senate bill, but they’re waiting to see the text before communicating a path forward. Republican aides confirm that humanitarian aid is expected to be in the bill.

One Republican Member simply said “We are screwed.” He didn’t add that they deserve to be screwed. But take it from me, they do. Moscow Marge is telling her colleagues and folks in the media that she could start the clock on a motion to vacate within 24 to 48 hours, potentially forcing a vote ahead of the aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan hitting the House floor… Finding a new Republican speaker would be even more excruciating than the three weeks of turmoil after Kevin McCarthy got the boot. House Republicans don't think anyone in their conference could lock down the gavel.”

I’ve spoken with half a dozen conservative Democrats who told me the same thing— they agree with the essence of Tom Suozzi’s Wall Street Journal OpEd and that unless Jeffries comes up with a good reason for Democrats to let the extremists depose Johnson, they’ll step up with the votes he needs to retain the gavel.