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Calls for Mike Johnson’s Ouster Are Getting Louder

A dustup on the House floor over rumors that Johnson is planning to change the threshold for a motion to vacate is escalating tensions over the speaker’s foreign aid package.

Mike Johnson, Matt Gaetz
Rep. Matt Gaetz had a heated conversation with Mike Johnson on the House floor. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The far-right flank of the House Republican conference is circling Mike Johnson’s speakership.

Rumors started early Thursday morning that Johnson wanted to raise the bar for a motion to vacate — a move the House’s most conservative faction said would only spur a motion to vacate. Johnson’s office declined to comment.

“We notified him that any effort to change the threshold of motion to vacate would likely induce the motion to vacate,” Rep. Matt Gaetz told reporters of a heated conversation he had with Johnson on the House floor. It currently takes only one lawmaker to bring up the motion to oust the speaker.