House Republican leaders formally introduced a new set of rules for the 119th Congress on Wednesday, which includes a provision that will make it harder to remove the Speaker of the House but does not eliminate the threat.
Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans predicted the change at a news conference in November after the gubernatorial election.
Under the proposed set of rules, the motion to drop the rule will now need nine cosponsors to be considered privileged on the House floor.
“A resolution creating a vacancy in the Speaker’s Office shall not be privileged unless it is offered by a member of the majority party and at the time it is offered has accumulated eight cosponsors of the majority party,” the rules package. the states
Speaker Mike Johnson speaks during a press conference for House Republicans following a leadership meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024.
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In the last Congress, only one member of parliament could do it force vote “vacating the chair” — used by former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and plunge the House into chaos for several weeks before Johnson was elected speaker. Historically, this has been the position of the House, but hard-right Republicans used this tool in 2015 as a threat to remove then-Speaker John Boehner. Democrats ultimately changed the rules to require a majority of the House to pass the motion. He controlled the House, but hardliners forced McCarthy to change the rule when the GOP regained the majority.
After electing a speaker, the House will vote on the rules package, which requires a simple majority to pass. Democrats aren’t expected to help Republicans clean up this package, so Johnson won’t be able to afford many GOP defections. This is usually the second vote of the House after the Speaker is elected and the members are sworn in.
Johnson’s re-election as speaker is not a sure thing. The speaker’s vote came in the final days of the 118th Congress, where some House Republicans were angry with Johnson in a bitter battle over spending that nearly caused a government shutdown before Christmas.
And while the nine-member threshold makes it harder to remove a speaker, it doesn’t eliminate the threat entirely.
Andy Harris, chairman of the Freedom Caucus of Maryland, and Dusty Johnson, chairman of the Main Street Caucus of South Dakota — who negotiated the deal — appeared with Johnson at a news conference where the change was announced in November.
“We had the opportunity to put the motion of confidence at one higher than one, that motion to leave will be set at nine in exchange for the removal of some amendments that would divide this conference,” said Dusty Johnson.
Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with House Republicans Dusty Johnson and Rep. Andy Harris during a news conference after a leadership meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024.
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The deal puts Republicans in a better position to “advance the Republican agenda to secure President Johnson, Senate President John Thune of South Dakota, and our president. Donald Trump have the opportunity to continue.”
“To me, this is exactly where we’re going to meet,” Dusty Johnson said.
Harris said the change will allow the conference to implement Trump’s plans.
“We were able to work through the conference to eliminate contentious issues that could have divided us and move forward together to accomplish the President’s agenda. That’s it,” Harris said.
Earlier this year, Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene presented a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair, Threatening to fire Johnson less than a month after stepping up to the speaker. When he launched the official vote on his motion to expel Johnson, Democrats were joined by nearly all Republicans. completely reject his move.
