Democrats joined Republicans on Sunday in defending House Speaker Mike Johnson in the face of a threat to remove him from his post, the day after he won approval of foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. The effort is led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told Fox News that he'll be ousted unless he resigns, Politico reports. "Mike Johnson's speakership is over," Greene said. Among those speaking against that point of view was fellow House Republican Tony Gonzales, who said on CNN's State of the Union, "I serve with some real scumbags."
Greene's criticism includes the fact that Johnson had the support of Democrats in passing the $95 billion foreign aid package. "These fringe people think they have the high ground," Gonzales said. "They do not." Rep. Michael McCaul, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said on ABC's This Week that support for Johnson increased after the vote and that he's proud of the speaker. "A profile in courage is putting the nation above yourself, and that's what he did," McCaul said, per CNN.
Democrats made no effort to save Kevin McCarthy's speakership last fall, but several of them said this time could be different. Rep. Jared Moskowitz said on Fox News Sunday that removing Johnson now "would only embolden China, it would only embolden Russia. It would only embolden Iran." Rep. Ro Khanna said he'd vote to table a motion to vacate, the mechanism used to remove a speaker, per Politico. He said on This Week that several fellow progressive Democrats also would vote to save Johnson. "He did the right thing here and he deserves to keep his job to the end of this term," Khanna said. (More Mike Johnson stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
