Motion to Vacate in Question After McCarthy Ousted

Lawmakers on both sides of the House are weighing their options after 8 Republicans and 208 Democrats passed a motion, brought by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his position as House speaker on Tuesday.

The decision to remove Mr. McCarthy from the speakership came less than a year into his role. Mr. McCarthy only gained the speakership after the House held 15 votes in January—and after enough Republican holdouts eventually agreed to support his speakership bid.

Mr. McCarthy offered several concessions to shore up support for the speakership, including lowering the threshold for members of his party to trigger a motion to vacate him from the position. Now, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is among the Republicans calling to once again raise the threshold to vacate the next House speaker.

"We're going to have to talk as a conference about the rules," Ms. Greene told NTD on Thursday. "Motion to vacate is a tool to hold a speaker accountable. But we don't want to continue going forward in a situation where ... anyone can motion to vacate at any time for any reason."

Ms. Greene had supported Mr. McCarthy's speakership, but has also worked closely with Mr. Gaetz on several issues in the past. Both Ms. Greene and Mr. Gaetz had expressed discontent with how the House Republican majority has handled budget negotiations in recent weeks. Mr. Gaetz cited concerns about Mr. McCarthy's leadership in those budget negotiations when he launched his effort to remove the House speaker this week.

"Ok. Let’s negotiate. My GOP colleagues want to raise the threshold on the motion to vacate. This is a question for all of them. If we enact the reforms @RepRoKhanna lays out here ... How high would you like the MTV threshold to be? Because I’ll basically give you whatever you want on the MTV for this stuff."

Mr. Gaetz has indicated he could support speakership bids by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).

While many House Republicans may be looking within Congress for their next speaker, others may entertain a speakership bid by someone outside of the legislature. Some Republicans have even floated the idea of naming former president and 2024 Republican frontrunner Donald Trump to the speakership role.

Ms. Greene is one such Republican who has said she's "solidly supporting" President Trump over the two Republicans who have announced speakership bids thus far.

"He's got a four-year track record. As president, his policies are the exact policies that make America great again, and this is what everyone wants back," said Ms. Greene, who has already endorsed Mr. Trump's 2024 presidential run.

President Trump briefly addressed the speakership discussion on Wednesday outside a New York courtroom where he and his legal team have been defending against a civil lawsuit over allegations the Trump Organization inflated the value of its various real estate properties. President Trump didn't give a direct answer when asked if he would consider serving as the next House speaker. Instead, he said he would do what he could to help Republicans—but indicated he's primarily focused on his current presidential campaign.

"We're leading by like 50 points," President Trump said of the Republican primary. "My focus is totally on that. If I can help them during the process I would do it. But we have some great people in the Republican Party that will do a great job as speaker."

Ms. Greene insisted the former president remains receptive to the idea of the speakership.