I’m sure I’m missing the point of this article.
He says Nancy is safe as Speaker until January 2021. That’s when the current terms of members of the House expire anyway. The results of the 2020 election could well decide whether Democrats, assuming they still control the House, will re-elect Nancy as Speaker.
It would be unusual to see a mid-session revolt against the Speaker anyway.
The rule was changed on the motion to vacate.
While unusual, there are many things that are not actually resorted to the presence of which of itself is influential. An armed society is a polite society.
With this rule, Pelosi can afford to tick off either the left or the right of her own party with impunity. Without it, ticking off 20 people of her own to the point that they would like to see her gone is no big deal. Likewise, if she really starts to loose it but doesn’t want to surrender power, until she has lost control of close to two thirds of the house (and/or some key lieutenants) there is nothing that dems who don’t like her can do.
The rule change is very bad, though not so bad as it would be in a unicameral legislature where executive powers are also vested in the leader of the governing party.