Don Wolfensberger at The Hill:
Getting back to the “revolt” against Speaker Joe Cannon in 1910, he too was the victim of a disgruntled group within his own conference. In that instance, progressive members of his party were impatient with Cannon as Rules Committee chairman for sitting on legislation they wanted to consider on the floor. So, the insurgents used parliamentary tactics to remove him as chairman and a member of the Rules Committee. Cannon then challenged his opponents to remove him as Speaker as well. A Democrat obliged by offering a motion to vacate the chair. However, Cannon held his party together and a motion to table the motion was adopted on a party-line vote. Republicans were not about to turn power over to the Democrats.
The motion to vacate remains a valuable check on overly powerful Speakers today. But it can also be manipulated so that it is less a vote of no confidence than a cudgel to force ideological concessions or personal capitulation to other demands of a few members. To say it is a two-edged sword is self-evident.