Two Things House Republicans Can Do to End the Reign of Lunacy

Republicans Need to Urgently Take Action to Prevent the Suicide of Their Majority

By Mark Strand

I’m back. It just took me getting mad enough to put up with all my typing mistakes as I rushed to get my thoughts out. Thank you for all your prayers - they have been working.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has filed a Motion to Vacate the Chair and remove Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House. Perhaps she has not been getting enough attention lately, which must be her prime motivation because the rest of her reasons make no sense.

Greene complained that Speaker Johnson brought the minibus (six combined appropriation bills) to the Floor without a majority of Republicans voting for the bill. This, Greene claimed, was a violation of the so-called Hastert Rule. The Hastert Rule states that Republicans should only bring up legislation that a “majority of the majority” supports.

Marjorie Taylor Greene in happier days with Speaker Mike Johnson. Perhaps, in her defense, I should point out that there was a camera in the room.

Forgive me for pointing out the overwhelming irony of her retaliating with a Motion to Vacate, hoping that a minority of 5-10 Republicans would vote for it on the Floor (along with, she hopes, all of the Democrats). If that’s not a violation of the Hastert Rule, I don't know what is.

Most of her colleagues think this is stupid. Suppose you do not like my description of her actions. In that case, a Thesaurus offers many alternatives, such as dumb, foolish, futile, ill-advised, laughable, ludicrous, senseless, short-sighted, brainless, dim, doltish, half-baked, half-witted, idiotic, inane, imbecilic, mindless, moronic, nonsensical, obtuse, out to lunch, puerile, simple-minded, thick-headed, unthinking, and witless. Take your pick.  English has a rich assortment of words.

Republican Mike Lawler said it was “not only idiotic, but it actually does nothing to advance the conservative movement – it undermines our country and our majority.”

Rep. Clay Higgins, a member of the far-out Freedom Caucus, said, “To think one of our Republican colleagues would call for his ouster right now is abhorrent to me, and I oppose it.”

“Keeping the government open has two-thirds of the support of Congress, and the idea that these jokers would kick out him (Johnson) is absurd.” (The Thesaurus missed Joker and absurd.)

But, while the vast majority of Republicans will be scouring their vocabulary for words to describe Greene’s actions, it won’t matter because it only takes a handful of fellow lunatics to join Greene in removing Speaker Johnson unless the Republican Conference takes immediate action.

Currently, Greene has filed her motion but has yet to call it up. This is an important distinction. A filed motion does not matter until the motion’s author goes to the House Floor and makes a Point of Personal Privilege. When legislation is highly privileged, the Speaker must call it up for a vote within 48 hours. So, the clock is not yet ticking on Greene’s motion, but she could go to the Floor and start the countdown whenever Congress is in session. Time is of the essence for the vast majority of Republicans.

The ultimate problem for Mike Johnson is that if he does not call Rep. Greene’s bluff, she is the de facto Speaker. If Johnson gives in to her conditions for not calling up the motion to vacate, he is merely doing her bidding. It is legislative blackmail instituted by a tiny minority of his party. No one can govern like that. Like Speaker McCarthy, he must call her bluff. Given the tiny GOP majority, it will only take two Republicans to join Ms. Greene if all Democrats vote against Johnson, as they voted against McCarthy.

That “if” is a big question. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been here before. He could have played the statesman, but instead, he chose to play the politician. I don’t fault him; he is a political animal like most of his colleagues. But, at what point is it bad politics for the Democrats to ally themselves with a handful of ideologically opposite malcontents to cripple the House, mainly because the Speaker allowed the House to act in a bipartisan matter.

Politically, Johnson cannot go to Jeffries hat in hand and beg for help. While lots of people would like to see that, it would be as crippling as giving in to Greene’s blackmailing. If he had the testicular fortitude, Jeffries could release his members to vote present, saying, with credibility, that the Democrats have no interest in playing footsie with the most extreme Members of the opposition. It would mean forsaking schadenfreude (feeling pleasure at another’s misfortune) but showing decent respect for the Chamber he would like to govern next January.

There is Hope

Fortunately for Republicans, recent events have created an opportunity for them to take action the day they return from Easter Recess to fix their problem.

Appropriations Chair Kay Granger announced she is giving up her chairmanship as soon as Republicans can appoint someone else. The leading candidate is Tom Cole of Oklahoma, currently Chair of the Rules Committee. If Cole is selected as Appropriations Chair (an excellent choice), a vacancy will be created on the Rules Committee.

Since Tip O’Neill was Speaker, Republican and Democrat Speakers have hand-selected the nine majority members of the Rules Committee. That is why it is nicknamed the “Speaker’s Committee.” Agenda control is one of the most important powers of any legislative body in the world. Just like all modern Speakers, the power to appoint loyal members of the Rules Committee would allow Johnson to regain control of the Floor. The current party caucus rules are silent on reforming the Rules Committee mid-term if a new Speaker is elected. The Republican Conference should specifically vote to immediately allow Johnson to appoint all nine Republican members of the Rules Committee.

In the not-too-distant past, appointment to the Rules Committee was an exclusive assignment, meaning a member could not have other Committee assignments. But that is no longer true. Every member of the Rules Committee has another important Committee assignment, so the political pain would be minimal for those Members removed from the Committee. Besides, only a very few constituents have a clue as to what the Rules Committee does. It is the ultimate inside baseball.

Speaker McCarthy got into trouble because of his agreement to appoint non-loyal people to the Rules Committee. The other reason was his agreement to a change in House Rules that allowed a single Member to make a privileged point of order to vacate the Speaker’s Chair.

This is evidence that political scientists, professors, and philosophers should never be allowed near a meme generator.

Republicans need to allow Speaker Johnson to appoint his own Rules Committee.

Once that is done, the first action of the newly reconstituted Rules Committee should use its legislative jurisdiction to propose a change to House Rules, ending the ability of a single member to offer a privileged motion to vacate the Chair. They could simply remove the privilege of the rule, meaning the motion would be referred to the Rules Committee, where it would presumably languish. However, the problem is that this approach could block a minority that has become a majority in the middle of the Congress through vacancies from making a legitimate motion to vacate the chair, allowing the new majority to appoint its own Speaker. If Greene persists in her folly, a few Democrats will probably be needed to vote for the House Rules change. 

Therefore, a better way, and one that Jeffries should be able to support, is to change the House Rule to return to it as it existed under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where only a member authorized by a majority of their own party caucus could make such a motion. That way, the parties are protected against gadflies while still being empowered to change Speakers should the actual control of the House change. Given the narrowness of the Republican majority, this is not a minor consideration for the Democrats.

Jeffries supported Matt Gaetz in kicking out McCarthy. Would it be politically wise for him to empower Marjorie Taylor Green to kick out Johnson? It is a choice of being known as a potential future Speaker who respects the office he wants to hold or merely another political hack willing to sacrifice the good of the Institution for personal gain. We’ve had plenty of bipartisan examples of that already this Congress. It would be refreshing if an actual leader emerged.

By regaining control of the Rules Committee and being unburdened by the threat of any random nut case ending his Speakership, Johnson could negotiate with the Democrats on legislation, including the vitally needed military aid package. It would allow conservatives who want to legislate more room for maneuvering when dealing with their Democratic counterparts since they would have a more robust Speaker supporting them.

The Republicans made themselves historical laughingstocks last October. It’s time to change the rules to salvage what remains of the 118th Congress. If they don’t, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz won’t have a Speaker of their own party to abuse in the 119th Congress.