'Tense conversation' heats up as House Republicans draft rules for ousting speaker

So far, the "motion to vacate" that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has entered against House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has not come up for a full House vote.

But if it does, Johnson could suffer the same fate as former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) — who, in 2023, was ousted as speaker after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) triggered a "motion to vacate" against him.

The fact that Johnson could be ousted only six months after McCarthy is a major source of frustration to Rep. Thomas Molinaro (R-New York), who, during an April 17 appearance on CNN, angrily declared that Greene's "constant effort to hold the Congress hostage has to come to an end." But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), on the other hand, is on board with Greene's "motion to vacate."

READ MORE:Marjorie Taylor Greene's letter to Mike Johnson 'marks a new escalation': columnist

In an article published on April 18, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke details tensions between House Republicans who are fine with the "motion to vacate" rule in its present form and House Republicans who see it as a detrimental source of chaos.

Brufke reports that during a "tense conversation on the House floor," a "group of conservatives pressured Speaker Mike Johnson to back off potential plans to make it harder to remove House speakers."

Gaetz, according to Brufke, "said Johnson would not commit to keeping the current rules."

Brufke reports, "One option being urged by Johnson allies is to change House rules in coming days to force more people to sign on to force the motion, as Punchbowl News scooped Thursday morning…. Conservatives took particular issue with Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.), who entered the conversation and facetiously urged them to pull the trigger on the motion to vacate."

READ MORE: 'Completely detached': Johnson’s speakership in danger amid GOP’s far right revolt

Read Axios' full report at this link.