House Democratic leaders say they would help save Speaker Mike Johnson's job

WASHINGTON — House Democratic leadership said in a joint statement Tuesday that they would vote to help save Speaker Mike Johnson if far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., moves to oust him.

"From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have put people over politics and found bipartisan common ground with traditional Republicans in order to deliver real results," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York; Minority Whip Katherine Clark, of Massachusetts; and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, of California. "At the same time, House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against MAGA extremism. We will continue to do just that."

Democratic leaders said they would vote to table or dismiss Greene's resolution to vacate the chair against Johnson, R-La. — a move that would effectively kill the resolution — providing a safety blanket for Johnson even if more GOP critics join Greene.

"If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed," the Democrats said.

They blasted out their statement just as Johnson and his GOP leadership team were holding a news conference in the Capitol, ensuring that the speaker would be asked about it. As the news ricocheted around social media, an aide quickly passed the speaker a note; Johnson told reporters it was the first he’d heard of it. Pressed on whether he had struck a deal with Jeffries, Johnson replied: “No, there’s no deal at all."

"I have to do my job. We have to do what we believe to be the right thing. What the country needs right now is a functioning Congress," Johnson told reporters, adding that the ouster of his predecessor, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, last fall resulted in a three-week paralysis in the House.

"No one can afford that. ... I have to do what I believe is right every day and let the chips fall where they may."

In a statement moments later, Greene vowed to press ahead and force the vote on Johnson's future.

"Mike Johnson is officially the Democrat Speaker of the House. Here is their official endorsement of his Speakership. What slimy back room deal did Johnson make for the Democrats' support?" she wrote. "He should resign, switch parties, and continue voting for Biden's open border invasion of America, endless wars, full term abortion on demand."

She then said she would give Democrats and Republicans the chance "to support Democrats' chosen Speaker" without saying when a vote would occur.

"I'm a big believer in recorded votes because putting Congress on record allows every American to see the truth and provides transparency to our votes," Greene continued. "Americans deserve to see the Uniparty on full display. I'm about to give them their coming out party."

For months, Greene has railed against Johnson, threatening to force a vote to oust him if he put Ukraine aid on the House floor. Johnson did just that, shepherding a package through the House that included Ukraine aid, as well as funds for Israel and a bill to provide a pathway to ban TikTok in the U.S. It became law last week after the Senate approved it and President Joe Biden signed it into law.

Democrats praised passage of that package in their statement, crediting "a bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans, led by President Biden."

The statement from Jeffries and his leadership team Tuesday came after House Democrats held a rigorous debate over the matter in a closed-door caucus meeting and is the strongest signal on how the party would react to a move to oust the speaker.

According to multiple sources inside the private meeting, senior Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told his colleagues that Democrats shouldn't be "cheap dates" — a phrase that was repeated by Jeffries and others in the room.

Other members brought up concerns about Johnson’s record, including his role as an “architect” of a legal theory to overturn the 2020 election results.

Aguilar, who served on the Jan. 6 Committee, told NBC News after the meeting that “it’s not lost on me the role that Mike Johnson played in the lead up to the 6th. … However, we want to turn the page over.”

Clark, the House Democrat’s No. 2, told NBC News that she had "more than grave concerns about Mike Johnson being in the speaker's role" come January 2024.

“He has shown us that he will not stand up for secure elections, he will not stand up for democracy. … But what this is saying is, 'You have the majority for now, we are gonna work every day to make Hakeem Jeffries Speaker, but we want to ensure that while we are here, we are doing the work the people sent us to do.' It’s not about saving Mike Johnson, it’s about saying ‘no’ to the chaos of that party," she said.

Some Democrats said they were surprised at how quickly their leaders issued the statement about saving Johnson following their debate.

"We were not under the impression a decision was gonna be announced so soon," one Democratic lawmaker said.

Many rank-and-file Democrats have said they would defer to leadership on how to handle such a vote, while a handful of moderates have signaled for months that they would save Johnson, particularly as he followed through on the government funding deals and allowed a vote on Ukraine aid.

“Members were clear-eyed about helping Johnson given his role in January 6 but because it’s an MTG motion it’s an easy thing to be against,” said one source in the room, who added that the move jibes with Democrats’ theme of being the “adults in the room.”

One Democratic leadership aide offered some explanation to this change in their posture, which had previously been leadership asking members to keep their powder dry and not commit publicly to helping Johnson out if a motion to vacate were filed.

“We don’t want to participate in MTG’s MAGA circus,” this person said. “We want Congress to function and do the work of the people. The House has been consumed with enough MAGA chaos."