Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Thursday that he won’t seek to raise the bar for removing a Speaker from power as part of the current debate over Ukraine aid — a prospect that had sparked an outcry from conservatives earlier in the day.
Under current House rules, any single member of the House can compel a vote on a motion to vacate, but a number of moderate Republicans have pressed Johnson to use the yet-to-be-passed rule governing the foreign aid legislation to raise that threshold.
Johnson, who’s under fire from conservatives over his leadership style and deal-cutting record with Democrats, had reportedly deliberated over that rule change. But after hours of public clamoring and furious threats from the hard-liners, the Speaker announced he would leave the rule as it stands.
“Since the beginning of the 118th Congress, the House rule allowing a Motion to Vacate from a single member has …