New House Rule: Only Majority Party Can Oust Speaker

Axios reports:

The House voted mostly along party lines Friday to adopt a rules package that protects newly reelected Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a potential ouster.

The new rules make it so that a vote on removing the speaker can only be brought if at least nine Republicans support what is called a “motion to vacate.”

That is a significantly higher bar than in the 118th Congress when any single member in either party could force such a motion. The tool was used to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October 2023. Johnson faced an unsuccessful ouster attempt in April.

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Mike Johnson’s big plan to stay Speaker? Change the rules so it takes 9 Republicans to fire him instead of 1. Guess when your party’s this messy, you need all the help you can get to keep the gavel.

House Republican infighting never disappoints.https://t.co/1nRvDgllEU

— Accountable.US (@accountable_us) January 3, 2025