"House Speaker Stands Firm Against Rule Change Allowing Single Member to Call for Ouster"

Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Thursday that he will not support a modification to the rule that allows a single member to trigger a vote on removing the speaker from office. Johnson acknowledged that the current threshold has had negative effects on the office and the Republican majority.

In a statement, the Louisiana Republican stated, "Recently, many members have urged me to back a new rule that would raise this threshold. While I recognize the merit of that proposal, any rule adjustment must be approved by a majority of the full House, which we currently do not have. Therefore, we will continue to operate under the existing rules."

At present, a single member has the authority to initiate a vote on the motion to vacate, a provision that was established as part of a deal struck by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California with hardliners in January 2023 to secure the speakership. Following McCarthy's resignation in October, Republicans considered revising the rules, but Johnson clarified in his statement that he lacks the necessary majority to implement such a change.

Upset by a number of his decisions made in his six months as speaker, including bringing up foreign aid to Ukraine for a vote and working with Democrats to pass major legislation, conservative lawmakers have threatened to force a snap referendum on Johnson. 

Changing the threshold would have further enraged conservatives. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican spearheading the effort against Johnson.

"Kevin McCarthy, while he was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, he never made a move like this behind closed doors and made deals with Democrats to change the motion to vacate," she said. "This is the type of betrayal that Republican voters are absolutely fed up with." 

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, said some conservatives had sought assurances from Johnson that he would not insert language into the text of the rule for the four-part foreign aid legislation that the House is expected to vote on this weekend that would make it harder to oust him. 

"We did not get the answer that we wanted," Gaetz said earlier Thursday. "He was equivocating." 

Gaetz, who triggered the vote against McCarthy, conceded that a motion to vacate could put the conference "in peril," but "we are not going to surrender that accountability tool."