If the House votes on ousting Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., Democrats might come to his rescue.

Some Democrats have said they are unlikely to support an effort to strip Johnson of his speakership, while others have said they are open to protecting him under certain conditions.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., introduced a motion last month to remove Johnson. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced Tuesday he is co-sponsoring Greene’s motion.

Greene has not yet forced a vote on removing Johnson. That could change soon after the speaker announced he is putting three separate bills on the floor that would provide billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The votes are expected Saturday.

Greene introduced her motion to vacate because she was upset with Johnson over a government spending package the speaker helped negotiate. But she has threatened for months to seek Greene’s ouster if he gave Ukraine aid a floor vote.

It’s not clear how many Republicans would support Greene’s motion. Just eight GOP lawmakers voted in October to remove then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, with 208 Democrats joining them. 

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not announced his position on whether he would advise Democrats to save Johnson. He said last week he believes there are “a reasonable number of Democrats who would not want to see the speaker fall as a result of doing the right thing,” referring to a vote on Ukraine aid, which Democrats support.

Reps. Tom Suozzi of New York, Adam Smith of Washington and Jared Moskowitz of Florida are among the Democrats who have signaled they are unlikely to vote to strip Johnson of his gavel.

“Democrats must offer Speaker Johnson our votes to save democracy in Ukraine and here,” Suozzi wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal. “We can’t let our partisan instincts get in our way. We must work with Republicans to disarm Mr. Putin’s puppet [Greene], get a vote to support Ukraine and defeat Russian disinformation. Our democracy is at stake.”

Moskowitz told CNN: “There is no way I’m going to let Marjorie Taylor Greene, who wants to secede from the union, take over the House.”

Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., has said she would only vote to save Johnson if the House approves Ukraine aid. Meanwhile, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., has said Democrats are “very open to a deal” in exchange for helping Johnson, but he added Republicans have to be the ones to reach out and that passing Ukraine aid alone would not be enough.

“We’re just not going to go and bail out one of the most conservative Republican speakers in American history," Moulton said. "But what Kevin McCarthy failed to do is even entertain a conversation to try to make a deal. Democrats were ready to deal. Kevin McCarthy refused to. If Speaker Johnson cares about doing the right thing as well as keeping his job, then he ought to make a deal with Democrats.”

Other Democrats flatly ruled out the possibility of helping Johnson.

"I think his worldview is very dangerous," California Rep. Robert Garcia said of Johnson. "I think there’s no scenario where I’m going to reward someone like that, who allows this level of chaos to happen in the House.”

“Bad on guns, bad on gays, bad on abortion and bad on voting rights," Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly said. “He litigated the overturning of the election. He didn't just vote the wrong way, he signed up for a lawsuit. That's who you want to save? Go home and explain that to Democrats."

Meanwhile, Punchbowl News reported Thursday that top House Republicans are urging Johnson to try to raise the threshold to introduce a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. Currently, a single member can make the motion.

That possibility is angering some far-right Republicans and could prompt Greene to force a vote on Johnson’s future sooner.

“Kevin McCarthy, while he was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, he never made a move like this behind closed doors and made deals with Democrats to change the motion to vacate,” Greene said. “And we’re hearing that’s exactly what Mike Johnson is doing.

“It’s completely wrong,” she added. “He owes our conference the truth, and he owes Republicans answers.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the charge to remove McCarthy, told reporters, “I didn’t support the motion to vacate when I woke up this morning” but that he may vote to oust Johnson if he tries to raise the threshold.

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Johnson poured cold water on the possibility of changing the rule to lower the threshold, while criticizing it as having "harmed this office and our House majority."

"Recently, many members have encouraged me to endorse a new rule to raise this threshold," Johnson said. "While I understand the importance of that idea, any rule change requires a majority of the full House, which we do not have. We will continue to govern under the existing rules."