House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) took a victory lap on CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday to brag about wrestling away control of the House from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Jeffries’ boast followed three startling Democrat victories in the Johnson-led House that delivered significant lifelines to President Joe Biden, desperate for legislative victories to tout as he continues struggling in the polls against former President Donald Trump.
Johnson’s actions spurred Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to commit to force a vote this week to eject Johnson from the Speakership.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Anna Moneymaker, Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Jeffries and his leadership team committed to saving Johnson in late April, issuing a remarkable statement praising him for partnering with a “bipartisan coalition” that include President Biden and “traditional Republicans” to “[push] back against MAGA extremism” and unleash tens of billions in aid to Ukraine and Gaza.
His statement on Sunday clarifies, with no uncertainty, why Democrats support Johnson.
“Even though we’re in the minority, we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide a majority of the votes necessary to get things done,” he said. “Those are just the facts”:
🚨Sound up!
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 6, 2024
House Republicans know this is true and Hakeem Jeffries started controlling the House when Johnson became Speaker.
Anyone that hears this and still defends Mike Johnson’s Speakership is ok with Uniparty control. pic.twitter.com/LXFO9iYbjP
CBS’s Norah O’Donnell agreed, saying, “The fact is, Republicans in the House are a majority in name only.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has labeled the Democrat victories Johnson’s “three betrayals.” Specifically, Johnson ended the work to pass each of the 12 individual appropriations bills and passed a two-part omnibus bill overwhelmingly supported by Democrats, rammed through a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after casting the deciding vote to kill a warrant requirement for spying on Americans, and carried out a scheme to unlock tens of billions in Ukraine aid despite promising not to do so without addressing the border crisis.
Speaker Mike Johnson (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Alex Wong/Getty Images), and Rep. Thomas Massie (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Johnson also passed a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was opposed by the majority of House Republicans.
Greene agreed with Jeffries’ assessment, posting on X, “House Republicans know this is true and Hakeem Jeffries started controlling the House when Johnson became Speaker. Anyone that hears this and still defends Mike Johnson’s Speakership is ok with Uniparty control.”
She could trigger the motion to vacate at any time, giving the House two legislative days to vote. Johnson is expected to immediately call for a motion to table.
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Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
