OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:17 AM – Tuesday, April 16, 2024
A second House Republican has backed efforts to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.
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On Tuesday, Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) threatened to cast a vote to vacate Johnson (R-La.) if he did not step aside first.
He is the second Republican to do so after Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion against Johnson last month.
“I asked him to resign…he said he would not,” Massie told reporters after the meeting. “And I said, well, you’re the one who’s going to put us into this because the motion is going to get called, OK? The motion will get called.”
He continued stating that Johnson would lose more GOP support than the eight House Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last year.
Johnson said at his weekly press conference afterward, “I am not resigning.”
“It is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacant motion. We’re simply here trying to do our job. It is not helpful,” Johnson said. “It is not helping the House Republicans advance our agenda, which is in the best interest of the American people.”
Massie along with other conservatives are pushing against Johnson’s plan of foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan which was announced on Monday night. The plan is to have four separate bills for foreign aid, with the fourth being for other national security priorities
The Kentucky Representative predicted the plan would not pass its initial procedural hurdle on the House floor.
“I’m the canary in the coal mine. This rule’s dead on arrival,” Massie said.
According to a GOP lawmaker who was present during the closed door meeting, Massie told Johnson that he should “just get all this legislation out of the way and then announce he’s not going to stay speaker.”
Another lawmaker said that Johnson then responded “Bring it on.”
While no House Republicans who were present at the meeting stated they would back Massie’s effort, they were reportedly divided on whether his accusations had any merit.
Massie said that he would sign onto Greene’s motion to oust Johnson, however, unless a privileged motion is filed, there is nothing forcing House Republicans to hold a vote.
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