Jeffries suggests that Democrats would spare Johnson from removal over his support for Ukraine
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, said Wednesday that he believed “a fair number” of lawmakers in his party would protect Speaker Mike Johnson from removal from office if he votes on a foreign aid bill that includes money for Ukraine. was therefore faced with a Republican mutiny.
Mr Jeffries said House Democrats had not formally discussed whether they would help rescue Mr Johnson if he suffered the same fate as Kevin McCarthy, the former speaker who faced a so-called motion to vacate who prompted a quick vote on whether he should be impeached. . Mr. Jeffries, a New York Democrat, also said he had not discussed the issue with the speaker.
But in a wide-ranging interview, Mr. Jeffries went as far as he has done publicly in suggesting what Democrats might be willing to do to protect the opposing party’s top leader if Mr. Johnson were to defy right-wing Republicans and vote on the $95 billion national security spending package, which includes more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine.
“It seems to me,” Mr. Jeffries said, “based on informal conversations that Speaker Johnson would do the right thing regarding meeting the important national security needs of the American people by bringing it up for discussion.” If there is a down vote, there will be a fair number of people in the House Democratic Caucus who will take the position that he should not fall as a result.”
Asked whether he said Democrats would vote to save Mr. Johnson, Mr. Jeffries said: “You can interpret it however you want to interpret it.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the right-wing Georgia Republican, has said she would seek to oust Mr. Johnson if he allowed a vote on continued financing of Ukraine.
Mr. Jeffries’ comments came a day after President Biden and congressional leaders, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, urged Mr. Johnson to take up the relief package, which passed the Senate earlier this month adopted and would provide military aid to both countries. Ukraine and Israel. Mr Johnson has so far refused to put the legislation to a vote, amid fierce opposition from his conference to the money for Kiev.
Mr. Jeffries predicted that the foreign aid bill would get “north of 300 votes from both sides of the aisle” if Mr. Johnson were to bring it up, calling it “an urgent issue for America’s national security.” ”
“I don’t believe Chairman Mike Johnson is pro-Putin,” Jeffries said.
“I do believe that, as he has indicated, he believes it is right to ensure that we continue to support the Ukrainian war effort and our allies in Israel, the Indo-Pacific and around the world. he said. “It is my assessment as an outside observer that part of the challenge he clearly faces involves people in Congress who just don’t want to see Ukraine win.”
Every Democrat in the House of Representatives joined eight Republicans in October to impeach McCarthy, a vote that came after he pushed through a stopgap bill to prevent a shutdown that relied on Democratic votes.
Democrats ultimately decided to support impeachment, Jeffries said, in part because “he had trust issues that had developed within the House Democratic caucus.” Mr. Jeffries listed a series of grievances, including Mr. McCarthy’s decision to walk away from the debt limit deal he struck with Mr. Biden in the summer to appease right-wing rebels in his ranks and to avoid an impeachment inquiry into Mr Jeffries to open. Biden without evidence of wrongdoing.
The final blow, he said, came after Mr. McCarthy declared that he was unwilling to give Democrats anything in exchange for votes to keep him in office, implying that he had no interest in their support to keep his speakership afloat hold.
“With Johnson it’s more of a clean slate,” Mr. Jeffries said. “Speaker Mike Johnson is a deeply principled conservative, and members of the Democratic caucus strongly disagree with many of his positions. But so far, when he has made a promise – publicly or privately – he has kept it.”