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 moderator Kristen Welker on NBC News' “Meet the Press” if Johnson could lose his speech on Ukraine aid.
“We have one or two non-team players who will 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 do this bill, which I think we will, we have enough support in the House to do this. 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 forces with several Republicans 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 “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, “He's had assurances from the Speaker and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee that we're going to put this to a vote on the floor. .”
Given the division within the House Republican caucus 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 vacation ahead of Easter, Rep. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., filed a motion to vacate, which would lead to a House vote to oust Johnson as speaker.
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] Publish the facts, let the public see them and make up their own minds. 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 close to 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.
