Khanna says Speaker Johnson ‘deserves to keep his job’

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) defended Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sunday, saying he “deserves to keep his job” as he faces down a threat to remove him after backing aid for Ukraine and Israel.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) leads a group of three GOP members who have signed onto a motion to vacate the Speakership, a move which could throw the House into chaos for the second time in a year.

Khanna is among the Democrats who have said he could not support such a motion after Johnson allowed a vote for Ukraine and Israel aid totaling $95 billion, which passed Saturday.

The congressman said in an ABC “This Week” interview with Jonathan Karl on Sunday that Johnson deserves credit for the aid package passing.

“We came into Congress together, and he always cared about civility. He actually led the civility pledge,” Khanna said. “And we had one issue, which was give individual votes, don’t lump things together. And I give him credit for doing this.” 

“I would actually vote to table any motion to vacate him,” he added.

The progressive is known for his penchant to go out on his own, but he said that other progressives could also be willing to throw in votes to save Johnson from an ouster.

“I’m a progressive Democrat, and I think you would have a few progressive Democrats doing that,” he said. “And I disagree with Speaker Johnson on many issues and have been very critical of him. But he did the right thing here, and he deserves to keep his job until the end of this term.”

Greene’s motion to vacate is not yet set for a vote, as she has not made the resolution privileged. She has warned that she could make that move any day, adding pressure on Johnson’s position as the House GOP majority shrinks.