Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is suggesting members of her party might help save House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a motion to vacate the chair.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, the New York congresswoman was asked if she would vote against a motion to vacate, which would oust Johnson from the job.
“I think that Democrats, we work as a team. I am not inclined to vote for a Speaker Johnson,” Ocasio-Cortez responded.
She continued:
“I am not inclined to vote for an individual — for speaker – who doesn’t believe in women’s rights, doesn’t believe in bodily autonomy, who has supported overturning a presidential election. My vote would most likely be for a Speaker Jeffries, which becomes an increasingly likely reality day after day, as Republicans pursue further midterm resignations.”
Finally, Ocasio-Cortez added, “But I think, for those of us and for any Democrat inclined, I don’t think we do that for free.”
“I don’t think we do that out of sympathy for Republicans. I think the realities of governance is there, we want to make sure that governance continues and that responsible governance continues and that tends to happen under a Democratic majority,” she added.
Watch the video below:
"I'm not inclined to vote for a Speaker Johnson.”
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) March 24, 2024
Democratic Rep. @AOC tells CNN’s @JakeTapper she doesn’t think Democrats should bail out Speaker Johnson if Republicans move to oust him. pic.twitter.com/6CqKr08XYq
On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced the measure to oust Johnson after the House passed a $1.2 trillion government funding package, but it relied on more Democratic votes than Republican support.
“Speaker Johnson has betrayed that by passing three [continuing resolutions] and then forcing us to vote on a two-part omnibus, the second one being today. He also only gave us, I mean, I don’t even know, we had one day basically to read 1,000 pages, breaking the 72-hour rule,” Greene told reporters.
She added, “This is a betrayal of the American people. This is a betrayal of Republican voters. And the bill that we were forced to vote on, forced Republicans to still choose between funding to pay our soldiers and in doing so, funding late term abortion. This bill was basically a dream and a wish list for Democrats and for the White House.”
The motion comes just months after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed a motion to vacate then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), after he also passed a spending bill that heavily relied on Democratic votes.
