House Democratic leadership announced Tuesday that they’ll allow members to block any effort from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and her tiny team of nihilists to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, a reminder of where the power sits in the House.
“We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-TX) said in a statement.
Even among Republicans Greene’s tantrums have been wearing thin for a few weeks now, but since she had Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Thomas Massie of Kentucky as cosponsors, the theoretical threat remained real—Johnson’s margin of error is that small.
So Greene has continued the bombast.
“Johnson will do whatever Biden/Schumer want in order to keep the Speaker’s gavel in his hand, but he has completely sold out the Republican voters who gave us the majority,” she tweeted Sunday. “His days as Speaker are numbered.”
Republicans feared Greene would make her move Tuesday, but as she and Massie were going into a meeting with the House parliamentarian, she said that “the plan is still being developed.” Then she and Massie left, telling reporters that they had been “developing plans.”
Maybe the speaker’s days aren’t so numbered after all, at least not by her doing. There’s always the possibility that more Republicans will quit, turning the majority officially over to Democrats, but it won’t be through Greene’s efforts. Even Freedom Caucus loud-mouth Chip Roy of Texas says it would be a mistake.
“I do not believe that is the direction that the American people want us to take right now,” he told reporters Monday.
That’s likely in part because Donald Trump has given Johnson his support, twice in two weeks, and he rules their world.
Once the fever broke on Ukraine aid and Johnson was forced to do the right thing, most of them, particularly Johnson, have had to accept the reality that Democrats have control where it matters, making sure that the government continues to function and critical legislation gets passed.
But leader Jeffries wants to make sure that Johnson remembers it’s on their sufferance.
“Mike Johnson doesn’t need too many Democratic friends,” Jeffries toldThe New York Times.
He also quipped that Johnson is lucky to have the enemies that he does.
“[Greene] is one of the best things the speaker has going for him because so many people find her insufferable,” he said.
But does Democratic intervention make Johnson weaker among Republicans?
“Republicans will have to work that out on their end,” Jeffries said. “The reality of this particular Congress is that we are functioning in a manner consistent with a bipartisan governing coalition in order to get things done for the American people.”
And Jeffries isn’t going to let Johnson forget it.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.
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Watch: Obama Says Kaepernick Is ‘Exercising His Constitutional Right To Make A Statement’
President Obama said San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was “exercising his right to make a constitutional statement” by refusing to stand up for the national anthem. Kaepernick said last week he would not stand because he didn’t want to show “pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
Obama, at a press conference at the G20 Summit Monday, recognized that there was a “long history” of sports figures making statements on political issues, but also referred to meaning the flag and national anthem hold for the nation’s troops. Kaepernick’s statement might be “tough for them to hear,” said Obama.
Despite saying he hadn’t been playing “very close attention” to the controversy, Obama also said he didn’t doubt Kaepernick’s sincerity.
“I think he cares about some real, legitimate issues that have to be talked about,” the president said.
Recognizing that political statements might be “messy” and “controversial,” Obama said, “But I’d rather have young people who are engaged in the argument and trying to think through how they can be part of our democratic process, than people who are just sitting on the sidelines and not paying attention at all.”
Kaepernick has received both criticism and support for his decision not to stand for the national anthem. His latest outspoken supporter in sports is Megan Rapinoe, a member of the US women’s soccer team, who kneeled during the national anthem before a match Sunday to show her solidarity with Kaepernick.
Rapinoe discussed that she identifies with Kaepernick’s efforts, and underscored the need for white Americans to join the movement:
Watch Obama’s remarks below:
Photo: U.S. President Barack Obama holds a news conference at the conclusion of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China September 5, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst