Democrats now effectively own the House despite being in the minority, according to House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
The Republicans won the House in November 2022 but had a slim majority, which has grown even slimmer since then. Despite their majority, it’s the Democrats who have been able to pass the majority of their bills, thanks to House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA).
During a Sunday interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Jeffries bragged about his party control of the House despite being in the minority.
“Even though we’re in the minority, we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide a majority of the votes necessary to get things done,” the House Minority leader CBS’s Norah O’Donnell. “Those are just the facts.”
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
O’Donnell agreed with Jeffries’s assessment, saying, “the fact is, Republicans in the House are a majority in name only.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who —along with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)— is leading the charge to oust Johnson as House Speaker, also agreed with Jeffries’ assessment.
“House Republicans know this is true, and Hakeem Jeffries started controlling the House when Johnson became Speaker,” Greene wrote in the X post. Anyone who hears this and still defends Mike Johnson’s Speakership is okay with Uniparty control.”
🚨Sound up!
House Republicans know this is true and Hakeem Jeffries started controlling the House when Johnson became Speaker.
Anyone that hears this and still defends Mike Johnson’s Speakership is ok with Uniparty control. pic.twitter.com/LXFO9iYbjP
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 6, 2024
Greene and Massie met with Johnson for two hours on Monday, during which both lawmakers pressed the speaker to resign. Greene, however, told reporters shortly after the meeting that it would continue on Tuesday.
“We had a very long discussion with Speaker Johnson. We’ll be meeting with him again tomorrow based on the discussion and then I’ll have more information,” Greene said. “I have been patient, I have been diligent. I have been steady. And I’ve been focused on the facts. And none of that has changed.”
.@RepMTG has substantive concerns with how the House is being run. There’s no denying that @SpeakerJohnson has let us down on a number of fronts.
We want Mike Johnson to be the best version of himself. Hopefully this motion to vacate threat is a positive upward management tool… pic.twitter.com/O9BgaVbViI
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 6, 2024
Following the meeting, Johnson told reporters he understands the frustration of his colleagues and that he would like to advance most of the GOP’s policies.
“I understand the frustration. I share it. I would really like to advance much more of our conservative policy on a daily basis here,” Johnson said. But the reality is we are working with the smallest majority in U.S. history, with a one-vote margin.”