Kevin McCarthy Predicts Motion to Vacate Against Johnson Will Fail

When Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was removed, it stunned everyone, including McCarthy, who was positive that Rep. Gaetz (R-FL) did not have enough support to remove him from his post.

Now Speaker Johnson (R-LA), who took over for McCarthy after several contested votes, is facing the same threat of removal.

McCarthy, however, believes that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who filed the motion to vacate against Johnson, will not be successful.

Motion to Vacate

If you are a regular reader of my reports, you know I had been predicting that Johnson was on his last breath, so to speak.

That all came to a head last week when Johnson passed the $1.2 trillion spending bill that was loaded with earmarks and wasteful spending.

Not only that but the legislation was dropped without the required review period Republicans had negotiated when McCarthy was given the gavel.

After the legislation passed, with more Democrat support than Republicans, Greene filed a motion to vacate against Johnson.

This time, however, McCarthy believes the effort will be defeated.

He stated, “The one advice I would give to the conference and to the speaker is — do not be fearful of a motion to vacate.

“I do not think they could do it again. That was surely based on Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) trying to stop an ethics complaint.

“I don’t think the Democrats would go along with it. Focus on the country, focus on the job you’re supposed to do.”

I understand why Greene did this, but if Johnson is removed, it will be a complete disaster for the GOP in terms of holding the House next term.

Democrats are already campaigning on the chaos in the House since the GOP took control, and they will surely take a section motion to vacate to the campaign trail, painting Republicans as a party that is incapable of legislating.

The edge is now only two votes, so if Greene gets a single vote to side with her on this motion, and all Democrats vote to remove Johnson, we are going to have to go through this all again.

Democrats, at this point, would be foolish to remove Johnson, though, as he has given them just about everything they wanted.

If I were in GOP leadership, I would tell Greene to hold off for now and concentrate on keeping the majority in this election.

They can then remove Johnson and elect a new Speaker when the next Congress starts.

McCarthy was actually right in this case, stating, “They’ve got to move through this, put the country first, and be able to move on. I think they’re able to do that. Speaker Johnson is doing the very best job he can.”

They need to start acting like adults here to keep the majority because if Trump wins and we lose Congress, we gain nothing. The risk, however, is far greater.

If Joe Biden wins and we lose Congress, then Dems have unfettered control and can pass whatever legislation they want.