The House rejected an effort from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his top leadership position, bringing an end to a weekslong saga of the Georgia Republican seeking to leverage her motion to vacate to make conservative demands.

Lawmakers voted 359-43 to table the motion, effectively killing the measure before it could be brought to the floor for a final vote. The motion succeeded after 163 Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in tabling the bill.

Only 11 Republicans voted against tabling the bill. Seven Democrats voted present.

After the vote, Johnson said:

"I want to say that I appreciate the show of confidence from my colleagues. I'm glad that this distraction is not going to inhibit [our] important work and all the other things that are on the table, on the agenda for us right now. Hopefully this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress."

Greene noticed her motion to vacate on Wednesday evening, over one month after she initially filed it on the House floor.

The Georgia Republican outlined several charges against Johnson, accusing the speaker of violating his promises and working too closely with House Democrats on key legislation.

Greene told reporters Friday.

"We need a new speaker. This is not personal against Mike Johnson. He's a very good man, and I have respect for him as a person, but he is not doing the job."

House leaders had two legislative days to take up Greene's motion, but confident House leadership brought the motion to the floor just moments after it was called. Johnson had an important ally in former President Donald Trump. Posting after Greene's defeat, Trump called Johnson a "good man" and noted that "I absolutely love" Greene. But he said the GOP should not show disunity ahead of the 2024 election with such a slim House majority. "This is not that time."

Several of Greene's Republican colleagues decried the move, accusing her of triggering the motion simply to get attention.

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) said:

"I've got bad news for Marjorie. People are going to pay attention to this story for about an hour and they're going to go back to real life. This is not going to make her any more famous than she already is."

When asked if Greene herself should be kicked out of the Republican conference, Dusty Johnson said, "One dumpster fire at a time."

"Moscow Marjorie has clearly gone off the deep end — maybe the result of a space laser." Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said.

A defiant Greene said she moved forward with the motion to vacate after two days of meetings with Mike Johnson and little movement on her demands, which included no more aid to Ukraine and defunding special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump.

Greene said after the vote:

"I would say the Democrats validated him to the rest of the Congress. Democrats saved him, Nancy Pelosi voted for him — Nancy Pelosi doesn't vote for Republicans unless she has full control of the House — Hakeem Jeffries, the entire leadership team, Jerry Nadler, Jamie Raskin, they all voted for Mike Johnson. That is the most terrifying thing to our constituents and to the American people."

Greene initially filed her motion to vacate in late March, holding the measure over Mike Johnson's head as he looks to navigate his conference through votes on key legislation. Greene followed through with that threat last week, telling reporters last week she would "absolutely" be putting the measure on the floor sometime this week for a vote.

Greene announced her motion on the floor during votes on Wednesday afternoon, which was met with boos from members of both parties. Greene yelled back, "This is the uniparty, for the American people watching."

House Democratic leadership came out against the motion to vacate on Tuesday, vowing to table the legislation should it come to the floor. That decision gave Mike Johnson considerable cover not enjoyed by his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was ousted when eight Republicans joined all Democrats last year.

Greene accused Mike Johnson of orchestrating a "slimy backroom deal" to save his speakership, something the speaker said he did not do.

Johnson said Wednesday:

"I am a lifelong movement conservative Republican, and I intend to continue to govern and importance because we believe in the core principles."

Greene's ally in the fight was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who had publicly called on Mike Johnson to resign voluntarily, giving Republicans an opportunity to choose a new speaker without repeating the three-week period in October when the House went without a speaker and all floor action was stalled. However, Mike Johnson had remained defiant, telling reporters earlier this month, "I am not resigning. And it is, in my view, an absurd notion."

Meanwhile, some other House Republicans are quietly pursuing their own path to raising the threshold for the motion to vacate.

"I'm working with a group of members to change the rules so they can't get that done so that one knucklehead can't put the whole House into disarray by forcing another speaker vote," Dusty Johnson said in a video of his ongoing efforts.
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