WASHINGTON — Centrist Rep. Susan Wild, a Pennsylvania Democrat and one of the top targets of Republicans in the 2024 election, said in an interview Friday that conservative hardliners are likely to vote to save Speaker Mike Johnson if he turns violent. votes for his removal from power.
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., warned Johnson that she would personally file a privileged appeal.motion to vacate,” putting the question of Johnson’s political future before the entire House if he tries to pass any package that includes Ukraine aid. Other conservatives He is angry with Johnson he Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. cut a top-level spending deal with and said a layoff offer was on the table.
“I’m not really inclined to support a member of the Republican Conference who wants to impeach the speaker over something like Ukraine aid or a financial deal with Democrats,” Wild told NBC News on Friday.
Wild noted that Americans were disillusioned by the stunning chaos that ensued last fall after the conservative rebels. He successfully overthrew Kevin McCarthy And Republicans struggled to agree on a successor. The House was paralyzed for three weeks, unable to do anything without a leader, until little-known Johnson emerged from the dust as the new speaker.
Wild does not want to tolerate such a mixed legislative suspension. And he is not alone. Known as Weak Democrats the front linesWild discussed supporting Johnson in the event of another impeachment bid, arguing that voters want to see Congress function and lawmakers govern rather than create chaos and dysfunction.
“Until I see the specifics of everything, I can’t tell you whether I’m going to vote for it or against it. But my inclination at this point is that we don’t want to see Congress shut down any longer because we can’t get a speaker,” Wild told NBC News in a phone interview. “We’ve had enough this year. “It’s been a very difficult year, and it’s been a very difficult year for the American people to watch Congress become incredibly dysfunctional.”
Wild is the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, and his re-election race could be among the closest in the House in 2024. His swing district, Pennsylvania’s 7th District, sits between Philadelphia and Scranton and Allentown; Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 0.6% in his 2020 district. And Cook Political Report assesses his competition this fall as a “toss-up”.
According to the rules of the House of Representatives, a deputy a motion to vacate To force a vote to impeach the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Taking into account The GOP’s wafer-thin majority is 219-213that means only four Republicans can join with all 213 Democrats to oust Johnson.
But that’s where the Democrats have the power to save him. Since the potential Johnson GOP would be unlikely to vote at all, it would take a few Democrats like Wild to step up and oppose Johnson’s enemies.
“I believe you’re going to see more than a few Democrats who will vote against the discharge proposal,” Wild said in an interview, adding that the issue has been discussed with fellow frontliners and Democratic women over text chains. “I know many of us dread the thought of another shutdown of Congress as we spend weeks trying to find another speaker.”
The congressman continued: “We have serious, serious disagreements about his policies, the way he does things. “If you see Democrats voting against the discharge proposal, that is in no way an endorsement of Speaker Johnson. It’s just a desire to continue our work.”
The behind-the-scenes discussions between Democratic front-runners like Wild are another example. how seriously Democrats take conservative threats Against Johnson’s three-month term as speaker, they believe he could throw the House back into disarray.
NBC News reported Thursday that Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, He brought up the need to defend Johnson From far-right rebels during a White House meeting between Biden and congressional leaders. Johnson was in the room.
“Johnson is in a dangerous situation and [we] He’s got to figure out how to protect the guy,” Himes said in a closed-door meeting, according to a source in the room.
In a statement to NBC News for this story, a Johnson spokesman suggested the speaker should not make decisions based on threats such as impeachment: “A impeachment does not affect how the Speaker leads the House. He is fully committed to working openly and transparently with every member.”