House approves new rules protecting Mike Johnson from ouster
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House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with colleagues on the U.S. House floor on Jan. 3, 2025. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images.
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.
Why it matters: 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.
Zoom in: House Democrats have railed against the change, noting that for the first time in U.S. history the minority party would be restricted from introducing a motion to vacate.
- "Instead of electing a Speaker of the House, they have decided to elect a Speaker of the Republican Conference — held hostage by their most extreme members," said House Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).
Zoom out: The 37-page rules package also formally eliminates the House's Diversity and Inclusion office, a longtime priority of House Republicans.
- It renames the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee — the name it held before Republicans retook the House under President Biden.
- It also renames the Office of Congressional Ethics to the Office of Congressional Conduct, authorizes subpoenas of DOJ officials as part of Republicans' Biden probe and retains the China Select Committee.
- And it tees up votes on a dozen bills related to Israel, border security, transgender participation in sports and proof of citizenship for voting.
Between the lines: After the speaker election, in which Johnson faced a 45-minute standoff with a handful of right-wing defectors, the rules package was changed to include two new provisions.
- One provision restricts the House from holding what are known as "suspension" votes after Wednesdays. It effectively restricts GOP leadership's ability to pass major legislation with help from Democrats.
- The other removes gender-neutral language from the rules — such as changing "child" to "son" and "daughter."
