By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-17 13:41:37 | Updated at 2024-11-18 04:32:14
15 hours ago
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has negotiated a deal that will better shield him from getting thrown out of power next Congress - and he has Donald Trump to thank.
The president-elect has been very complimentary of the speaker in the past week after Republicans maintained control of the House and the two have been spotted at high-profile GOP events from Mar-a-Lago to Washington, D.C.
Whether discussing party plans over dinner or legislative strategy by phone Johnson seemingly has been brought closer into the former and future president's orbit.
That blossoming relationship may be responsible for a major concession recently made by the most MAGA members of the House Republican conference this week.
While visiting Washington, D.C., on Wednesday Trump stopped by a private meeting with House Republicans and urged them to rally behind Johnson.
The president-elect told the room filled with hundreds of lawmakers he '100 percent' supports Johnson.
'This is a tremendous guy. I’m with him all the way,' Trump said.
Trump's declaration of faith in Johnson just ahead of the House GOP leadership elections was clear, and later that day the speaker won reelection with an unanimous vote.
Then that evening it was announced he will be eight times harder to remove from power.
Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, his son Jack Johnson and wife Kelly Johnson at the AFPI Gala at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday night just one day after the speaker won his leadership reelection bid
Speaker Mike Johnson got Donald Trump's full endorsement to be the top House Republican
President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., as he arrives to speak at a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. During Trump's remarks before House Republicans he mentioned that he supports Johnson retaining his spot as the GOP leader
Just over a year after former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was ousted from power, Speaker Mike Johnson and some hardline conservatives have struck a deal to make it harder to remove him as party leader.
Johnson along with Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-Wyo., and Andy Harris, R-Md., revealed Wednesday evening that a deal was struck to raise the vote threshold for a 'motion to vacate' the speaker from one single vote to nine votes.
'We had an opportunity to set the motion to vacate at a higher than number one, that motion to vacate will be set at nine in return for getting rid of some amendments that probably would have divided this conference,' the Wyoming Republican.
He claimed it put the House 'in a better position to move forward with the Republican agenda to make sure that Speaker Johnson, South Dakota Senate Leader John Thune and our President Donald Trump have an opportunity to go forward.'
Currently, if one member files a motion to vacate the speaker, the entire House could soon vote on whether that speaker, in this case Johnson, gets to keep their job.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz - Trump's attorney general nominee - notoriously began McCarthy's ouster by raising a motion to vacate in October 2023.
Gaetz's solitary vote of no confidence kickstarted a revolt against the speaker, ultimately leading to his ousting from power and later retirement from Congress altogether.
The Florida Republican along with seven other members of the GOP joined every Democratic member to remove McCarthy, which then kicked off weeks of turbulence as the House GOP grasped at straws attempting to find a new leader.
Jack Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Speaker Johnson and Elon Musk on Thursday night
President-elect Donald Trump, escorted by House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., for a meeting with the House GOP conference on Wednesday
After a flurry of unsuccessful candidates and weeks of Congress being paralyzed - it can't function properly without a speaker - Johnson emerged as a genteel, problem solver from Louisiana ready to unite the conference.
Just a few months after the Louisiana Republican took the speaker's gavel his members were already asking for him to step down.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate Johnson in March just like his predecessor.
The Georgia lawmaker was furious over a $1.2 trillion government funding bill.
Greene and conservatives allies were enraged the 1,000 page package was released in the middle of the night, with no time to read it before the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of La.,, center, stands before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla., as Newt Gingrich, left, watches
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) gestures as he listens to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speak during the America First Policy Institute Gala held at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. The annual event supports Grey Team, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing military suicide
Johnson later avoided being removed and the threat never materialized into a serious GOP insurrection.
With the motion to vacate threshold being raised to nine from one it will insulate Johnson from a few disgruntled members, but not from many.
If nine band together to cast a vote to remove Johnson the House would be plunged back into a desperate search for someone to take the helm while all other legislative duty gets paused indefinitely.
The deal will be finalized in rules voted upon in January 2025 and it should provide more stability for the House GOP after threats like Greene's.
