Jeffries: House Republicans Are a Majority In Name Only

Last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said she will call for a vote to remove Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his position as Speaker of the House. If Johnson survives that Motion to Vacate, it will be because House Democrats have pledged to support the embattled Speaker in order to prevent his removal.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries isn’t hiding his satisfaction that while Republicans have a majority in the U.S. House, it’s a majority in name only.

Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries gloats that Democrats control the House of Representatives under Mike Johnson, yet some of my Republican colleagues want to continue business as usual for the rest of the year. Listen: pic.twitter.com/rVca3UTWSh

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 6, 2024

Jeffries told “60 Minutes” that although his party is technically a minority in the House of Representative, they effectively are governing as if they are in the majority. Jeffries explained that the GOP Speaker depends upon Democrats for the majority of the votes necessary to get things done.

This admission underscores the dilemma faced by conservative Republican House members as to whether to pretend that Johnson is offering an appreciable difference between how Jeffries would lead as Speaker or not.

Speaker Johnson, last week released a statement in response to Rep. Greene’s announcement that she would call for a vote on her Motion to Vacate, saying, “This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country.”

If a Republican majority is giving the Democrats 100% of their priorities while advancing virtually no GOP priorities, how does that square with what’s right for the country?