House Democrats say Mike Johnson has an option to control his future over a motion to vacate from Marjorie Taylor Green: putting a Ukraine aid package on the floor.

Several Democrats from across the ideological spectrum said in interviews with POLITICO they would motion to table Greene’s resolution — if it came to a vote — if Johnson put a Ukraine aid package on the House floor for a vote.

All Democrats previously voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy along with a group of Republicans last fall.

“I think Speaker Johnson should demonstrate a willingness to govern in a way that is helpful to the plight of democracy and our allies across the world,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), who said she’d vote to set aside the motion if the Senate-passed foreign aid bill came up for a vote.

“If Taylor Greene puts forth a motion to vacate because there’s a bill on the floor that we have the ability to vote on — the Senate-passed Ukraine bill — I would absolutely vote to table,” she said.

“It’s not a question of saving Mike Johnson,” seconded Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). “I’ll make a common cause and an alliance with anybody in Congress who will try to save the Ukrainian people at this point.”

And in recent days, Johnson has indicated privately to some Democratic lawmakers he would put a Ukraine aid bill up for a vote after lawmakers came back from their Easter recess. Johnson has signaled that foreign aid would be the House’s next priority after wrapping up government funding this week.

“I had a very positive conversation with Speaker Johnson today where he assured me that the Ukraine aid the package would come to the floor,” Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) told POLITICO on Thursday. “And I feel confident with that.”

Democratic leadership indicated they would first hear out their members before deciding on a plan of action.

“It’s a joke, she is an embarrassment,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters. “We will have a conversation about it soon.”

Anthony Adragna contributed to this report

Mike Lee is taking his battle with Senate leadership to new lengths.

The Utah Republican proposed an amendment to the spending bill that would dismantle the pay structure for some top staffers to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to a copy of the amendment obtained by POLITICO.

A number of top staffers for Schumer and McConnell are paid as “consultants,” and Lee’s amendment would block the use of the practice.

Lee refers to Schumer and McConnell as “The Firm” and has been railing against their work together on the Senate’s foreign aid bill, as well as its annual spending bills. He’s been calling on Republicans to block the spending bill that arrived in the Senate on Friday and took specific aim at the legislation’s potential expansion of leadership staff on Thursday.

“The 1,012-page spending bill doesn’t secure the border, but rest assured — it paves the way for Senate leadership to hire additional staff,” he posted on X.

At issue is a provision in the spending bill’s section on the legislative branch, which would expand the use of consultants on leadership staff. The Senate has paid staff through this designation for more than 20 years, with the amount of total pay gradually increasing to more than $4 million last year, according to Legistorm.

Lee’s amendment would stop that practice entirely. It’s unlikely to pass even if it gets a roll call vote, but nonetheless demonstrates the level of ire on the right toward Senate leaders.

Lee is also one of the most prominent opponents of McConnell as GOP leader, criticizing his leadership style and voting against him in the 2022 leadership elections. McConnell will step down as the Senate’s top Republican later this year, but the next GOP leader would likely benefit from the expansion of Senate consultants.

The House approved a $1.2 trillion funding package on Friday, sending the colossal measure off to the Senate with just hours to spare before federal cash expires for most of the government after midnight.

Speaker Mike Johnson leaned heavily on Democratic votes to pass the package in a 286-134 vote, his usual practice with spending legislation ever since he assumed the gavel five months ago. Just 101 Republicans supported the measure, falling short of a majority of the GOP conference. The vote was held less than 36 hours after more than 1,000 pages of bill text was released in the middle of the night, a fact that infuriated conservatives.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has proposed a vote on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson, according to three people with direct knowledge — setting up a high-stakes vote of confidence in his leadership as conservatives lament the Louisiana Republican’s passage of a $1.2 trillion government funding deal with mostly Democratic votes.

Greene, who supported Johnson’s October election as speaker, is one of several members on his right flank who have publicly soured on his leadership in recent weeks. She had hinted earlier Friday that she was considering a maneuver to force the ouster vote. Johnson may or may not have to take it up, since it’s not yet clear whether Greene filed it as a “privileged” resolution that requires House floor time.

If Greene did not file her resolution as privileged, Johnson could let it sit. Even if she did file it with the protections of privilege, Johnson would be able to postpone any vote on it after the House takes a two-week recess.

Should there be an ultimate vote on ejecting Johnson, Greene could easily fall short, despite rising conservative angst with him. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), one of the eight GOP lawmakers who voted to fire former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, said Friday that he had “no idea” what Greene was doing and would not support her effort.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), another of the eight who opposed McCarthy, also said she would vote no on firing Johnson. But Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), another frustrated conservative, declined to tip his hand and said only “we’ll see.”

If all Democrats vote for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as speaker during an ouster vote where the House has full attendance, Johnson could only afford to lose two Republican votes if he wants to remain in power.

Asked earlier Friday if he was concerned about Greene forcing an ouster vote, Johnson simply shook his head. His spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

House rules allow for a delay in voting on Greene’s move, known as a “motion to vacate” the speaker’s chair, until after the recess that is set to begin Friday.

Nicholas Wu, Daniella Diaz and Anthony Adragna contributed.

House lawmakers intend to vote in the 11 a.m. hour Friday to pass a six-bill government funding package and avoid a shutdown. But there could be turbulence in rounding up the votes needed for passage.

Leadership is trying to pass the package, known as a minibus in Washington parlance, through suspension of the rules — an expedited process requiring two-thirds of the chamber’s support. But one centrist Republican who is voting for the bill said Thursday evening that chances the House passes the government funding bill appeared “iffy at the moment.”

In an ominous sign for House leadership, senior appropriator Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) announced he would oppose the package over concerns about earmarks added by the Senate in the process. He said the Senate had “taken liberties” and “The Senate must respect the work of the House.”

If and when the measure escapes the House, the timing for Senate action remains unclear. Conservatives vented about the bill, but didn’t indicate in interviews they planned to hold it up — assuming they secure some amendment votes.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Two of the top contenders to be the next Senate GOP leader are taking subtle but different approaches to the future of Social Security and Medicare.

Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) suggested that lawmakers take steps to ensure the programs’ continued viability — amid Democratic attacks on his party for potentially entertaining new limits to entitlements.

“It’s going to take courage at some point,” Thune said. “And this maybe isn’t the season, but we can’t wait much longer,” referring to the presidential election.

The South Dakotan added: “At some point, we’ve got to confront the reality that Social Security and Medicare are headed for bankruptcy.”

By contrast, John Cornyn (R-Texas) — Thune’s chief rival so far in the race to succeed Mitch McConnell — largely demurred on entitlements. Cornyn said the political reality is that both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have resisted major changes to the programs, alterations to which are a long-running third rail of U.S. politics.

“We’re not going to do anything without the president’s leadership — and neither President Biden or President Trump have indicated their desire to deal with those [programs],” Cornyn said. “We need to try to do the work to build that bipartisan support to get it done.”

Asked what he would personally support, the Texan quipped: “If I had a magic wand? I don’t have a magic wand.”

Both men are running to be the next Senate GOP leader in a field that could continue to grow. Their answers offer a glimpse into how they could contend with one of the thorniest issues facing Congress — the future viability of two of the nation’s most popular programs — as Republican leader.

Biden has steadfastly refused all proposed cuts to the programs. Trump, though, said during a recent CNBC interview that there’s “a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.”

He later cleaned up those comments in an interview with Breitbart, saying “I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare.” Biden, however, quickly responded that “I’m never going to let that happen,” regarding cuts.

The second time’s the charm: The Senate approved José Javier Rodríguez, 50-48, for a senior Labor Department role after previously voting against confirming the former Florida Democratic politician last November.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined with all Republicans in voting no, but Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) flipped his vote in favor of the nominee for assistant Labor secretary for employment and training, a break from the prior vote.

Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) did not vote, meaning Vice President Kamala Harris was not needed to break a tie.

“It was never about the nominee,” Menendez, who faces multiple federal charges of corruption, told POLITICO in a brief interview. “It was about issues with the White House.”

Senators previously voted down the nomination by a 44-51 tally last year with four Democrats and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) absent. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer changed his vote to no for procedural reasons.

House Republicans are suing in a bid to force testimony from two Justice Department attorneys — part of the GOP’s sweeping impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Judiciary Committee Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) filed a lawsuit on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to try to enforce subpoenas that compel closed-door testimony from two DOJ tax division attorneys: Mark Daly and Jack Morgan. They were both first subpoenaed last year as Republicans probed the years-long federal investigation into Hunter Biden.

“The failure of Daly and Morgan to comply with their respective subpoenas is impeding the Committee’s impeachment inquiry and its oversight of DOJ’s handling of the Hunter Biden investigation, matters of significant public concern,” attorneys for the House wrote in the 59-page complaint.

Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.