Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) came to the defense of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sunday, asserting that Johnson “deserves to keep his job” despite facing a potential threat to his leadership position over his support for aid to Ukraine and Israel.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has spearheaded a motion to vacate the Speakership, which, if successful, could throw the House into disarray for the second time in a year.
However, Khanna, along with other Democrats, has indicated that he could not support such a motion after Johnson facilitated a vote on a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel, which passed on Saturday.
Ro Khanna (Credits: House.gov)
Speaking in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” with Jonathan Karl, Khanna praised Johnson for advancing the aid package. “We came into Congress together, and he always cared about civility.
He actually led the civility pledge,” Khanna remarked. We had one issue, which was to give individual votes—don’t lump things together. And I give him credit for doing this.”
Khanna further expressed his willingness to vote to table any motion to vacate Johnson, emphasizing that despite their ideological differences, Johnson’s decision to support the aid package warranted his continued tenure as Speaker until the end of the term.
Mike Johnson (Credits: POLITICO)
Acknowledging his progressive stance, Khanna suggested that other progressive Democrats could be willing to support Johnson in such a vote. “I’m a progressive Democrat, and I think you would have a few progressive Democrats doing that,” he said.
“And I disagree with Speaker Johnson on many issues and have been very critical of him. But he did the right thing here, and he deserves to keep his job until the end of this term.”
While Greene’s motion to vacate has not yet been scheduled for a vote, she has not made the resolution privileged, indicating that she could potentially escalate the situation at any time. This would add to the pressure on Johnson’s leadership position as the House GOP majority diminishes.
