House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts speak during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. UNITED STATES.
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House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts speak during a news conference Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol. UNITED STATES.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
The House Rules Committee voted 9-3 in favor of a package of bills providing aid to Israel, Ukraine and other allies, after Democrats took the rare step to support a procedural vote for Republican bills.
Republican Reps. Chip Roy, Thomas Massie and Ralph Norman voted against the rule, angered that aid to Ukraine was not paired with conservative border security provisions, as the House speaker Representative Mike Johnson had previously insisted on doing so.
Thursday night’s vote will allow the full House to vote on the rule and begin debate on foreign aid bills. Various elements of the package are expected to be adopted by bipartisan coalitions this weekend.
Before the vote, Democratic leaders had not committed to supporting this rule, as the text was not yet available. But they said they were open to the possibility and committed to pushing through foreign aid.
“We are going to do what is necessary to ensure that the national security bill crosses the finish line,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday morning.
Minority support for majority rule almost never happens. As a result, Johnson and his predecessor, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, saw several rules fail, largely because of objections from the party’s right wing.
Aid progresses, but threat to Johnson remains
The rule does not raise the threshold required to make a motion to oust the president, which several members of the Republican conference had called for. Currently, only one member is required to file such a request. Johnson reportedly considered the change Thursday morning, but he wrote on social media that the House “will continue to govern under existing rules.”
Since the beginning of the 118th Congress, the House rule allowing a motion to overturn from a single member has been detrimental to this office and to the majority of our House.
Recently, many members encouraged me to approve a new rule to raise this threshold. Although I understand the importance of…
– President Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) April 18, 2024
Reps. Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., co-sponsored a motion to vacate the chair, but so far have not brought it up for a vote.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a moderate Republican from a swing New York district, said Thursday morning that the threshold should be changed “immediately.”
“Whatever it is, it needs to be done, it needs to be done,” Lawler said. “If Mike Johnson is removed from office simply because he put aid to our allies on the ground, number 1, it will cause another prolonged chaos. And number 2, it will make it even more difficult of the next speaker.
But several hard-liners spoke out against the change ahead of Thursday’s Rules Committee meeting.
“If he attaches a rule to amend the motion to overturn, and then uses the Democratic votes on the Rules Committee, he will prove exactly what I said: He is the Democratic spokesperson,” said Greene.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., filed the petition to oust McCarthy in October, but does not support Johnson leaving now.
“I fear that many discussions about changing the threshold for a motion to quash may become a self-fulfilling prophecy by triggering a motion to quash,” Gaetz said. “I think it’s profoundly reckless in a series of deeply reckless decisions that we’ve seen.”
The Main Street Republican Caucus, a moderate coalition within the House, will soon send a letter to Johnson asking him to further consider raising the threshold, according to Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y.
“The fact that we have the possibility of a single person holding our conference — and frankly, this institution — hostage needs to change,” D’Esposito told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Most Democrats have not said whether they would help save Johnson if the motion to overturn is made.
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