McConnell says he’s ready for ‘chaos’ in House to end

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said Wednesday he’s ready for the “chaos” that has plagued the House for much of 2023 and 2024 to end next week, when a bipartisan group of lawmakers is expected to vote to quash a motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from his post.

“I’m relieved as I think all of America is that the chaos in the House will be discontinued,” McConnell told reporters when asked about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) plan to force a vote on the motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair next week.

The motion is expected to fail after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats pledged to vote to table the motion to boot Johnson from his job.

McConnell said that ending the threat against Johnson would be a good thing for Congress and the country.

“I think it’s a benefit to our country, a benefit to the House, a benefit to the reputation of Congress,” he said.

Greene introduced her motion to push Johnson out of his job a month ago and has recruited at least two colleagues to support the effort: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). But a number of Republicans, including hard-line conservative opponents of Johnson, have expressed hesitation about ousting him so close to the November election.

Johnson and his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), labored for months under the threat that they could be kicked out of their jobs at any moment because McCarthy agreed to a rules package at the start of the 118th Congress that allows a single member of the House to force a snap leadership election.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) used a motion to vacate against McCarthy in October, ending his run as Speaker after only nine months and bringing the House to a standstill for three weeks until Johnson was elected Speaker.