Rep. Don Bacon warned Sunday that Speaker Mike Johnson could face a vote to impeach him if he tries to pass Ukraine aid in the House.
“I'm not going to deny it,” Bacon, R-Neb., said when asked by NBC News' “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker if Johnson could lose his right to speak for Ukraine aid.
“We have one or two people who don't have a team — they're not team players. They enjoy the limelight, the social media,” Bacon added, though he did not name any members.
“It's a very narrow majority, one or two people can make us a minority,” he said.
Bacon has given some support to Ukraine, including Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., on the Ukraine aid bill. and highlighted his partnership with Ed Case, D-Hawaii.
“We've put together a bill that focuses on military aid — a $66 billion bill that provides military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan,” Bacon told Welker, calling for a “bicameral, bipartisan solution.”
“If we get this bill done, which I think we will, we have enough support in the House to get it done. And – I want to make sure we have support in the Senate,” Bacon said.
Bacon said he hoped “the speaker will win. He's doing the right thing.”
He also suggested that Democrats could join with several Republicans in trying to save Johnson's speakership.
“I think there will be Democrats who don't want to see this impasse. And I think they may or may not vote right now,” Bacon said.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D.S.C., noted earlier Sunday that there was a scenario in which Bacon might be right.
“Would you protect me? [Johnson] What if there's a move to oust him for bringing Ukraine aid to the ground?” Welker asked Clyburn earlier on NBC News' “Meet the Press.”
“I stand by our leader. [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries,” Clyburn added: “If he called me and said, 'Look, I want to get your vote for Johnson,' he got it.”
Bacon hinted to Welker that Ukraine aid could be brought up for a vote, saying, “We're going to put this on the floor and get a — vote from the Speaker and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
Given the House Republican caucus' division on the topic and the razor-thin majority the party holds, a vote on Ukraine aid in the House could jeopardize Johnson's speakership.
Before the chamber left for a two-week break before Easter, Rep. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Green, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate, which would lead to a House vote to oust Johnson.
Green did not file the motion as a privilege, however, which forced the House to vote on the motion within 48 hours.
Shortly after she filed the motion, Green warned“He should not bring funds to Ukraine”.
Another contentious issue dividing House Republicans is the status of the House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, led by House Oversight Chairman James Comer. Bacon suggested at Sunday's hearing that he did not reveal any criminal wrongdoing.
“Right now, the attorneys in the group I'm talking to say there's no such thing as a specific crime, and you need it for more felony or misdemeanor offenses,” Bacon said.
The statement contrasts with recent steps taken by Gomer, who said in a fundraising email last week that he was “preparing criminal recommendations as the culmination of my investigation.”
A representative for Comer did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.
Still, Bacon said, “I think the investigation — it deserves an investigation.”
“[Let’s] Put the facts out, let the public see it, make a decision, and I think it's good to be transparent, especially — we're in an election year,” he added.
But when Welker asked if it was time to stop investigating the president if there was no evidence of more crimes and wrongdoing, Bacon said, “I don't know if it's time, but I think we're probably nearing the end of this investigation.”
The White House has denied wrongdoing by Biden and said in December that House Republicans were continuing on a “path of failure” with their investigation.
