Davidson supports Massie, Greene in failed effort to oust speaker

Another Cincinnati-area congressman Wednesday joined 11 Republicans in a failed measure that could have led to the Speaker of the House's ouster.

Rep. Warren Davidson along with 10 other House Republicans voted against tabling Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's motion to vacate. The procedural vote blocked a measure that could have removed Speaker of the House Mike Johson, a Republican from Louisiana.

Davidson, a Republican from Troy, represents Ohio's 8th Congressional District, which includes all of Butler County and the western half of Hamilton County west of the city limits.

Greene and Northern Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie have led the effort to oust Johnson, criticizing him for working with Democrats and using the pejorative term "uniparty" to describe his leadership

The effort to oust Johnson failed Wednesday as the House voted 359-43 to table Greene's motion, with 11 Republicans joining 32 Democrats voting against the motion to table. Massie and Davidson were among the 11 Republicans who voted against tabling Greene's motion to vacate.

Davidson, in a post on X Tuesday night, didn't clearly state a desire to change speakers. He expressed an interest in opening the floor for debate. Davidson opposed the ouster of the previous speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy. On X, Davidson stated he also opposed the "passive-aggressive" tabling of the motion to vacate.

"Then, as now, the privileged question on motion to vacate deserves an answer," Davidson said on X, formerly Twitter. "Republicans need to be united around a mission, not a person. The words are so good, but the deeds reveal that for many Republicans, a big government coalition with Democrats is preferable to less government."

A message to Davidson's office wasn't immediately returned Wednesday night. In a May 3 interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Davidson indicated he would like Johnson to stay as speaker but to "get him back on track."

"Congressman Mike Johnson is a guy that everybody united behind and supported him to become the next speaker of the House," Davidson told Bartiromo. "Speaker Mike Johnson has made all kinds of bad decisions that frankly the majority of the party has not supported."

Speaking to reporters after the vote, Johnson thanked his colleagues “for the vote of confidence” and pledged to continue to do his job.

“In this moment this country desperately needs a functioning Congress,” he said. “And that’s what an overwhelming majority of the Republican members of this body chose today.”

USA Today reporters Marina Pitofsky, Riley Beggin and Ken Tran contributed to this report

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What area members of congress supported ousting Speaker Johnson?