Here We Go Again: Massie Tells Mike Johnson to His Face He Plans to Back Motion to Oust Him as Speaker
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Rep. Thomas Massie revealed on social media that he told Rep. Mike Johnson that he plans to co-sponsor a motion to vacate the speakership in a closed-door meeting with House Republicans.
Massie joins Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in seeking to oust Johnson from the Speakership less than six months after he was elected to replace Kevin McCarthy as the top Republican in the House of Representatives.
Massie confirmed prior reporting by Jake Sherman in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing:
CNN’s Melanie Zanona reported that Massie’s announcement was met with a chorus of boos
Massie was booed by his Republican colleagues after he made this announcement, per one of the sources, and then Rep. Trent Kelly stood up and criticized Massie, saying it’s “wrong” to not back the speaker. https://t.co/Qlpi0GwTkr
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) April 16, 2024
Since taking control of the House of Representatives, Republicans have had a difficult time managing competing factions, made all the more challenging with the very low bar to introduce a motion to vacate at the start of this, the 118th Congress.
Its a strange time for Republicans to be airing dirty laundry of internal politics within Congress as the Israel-Hamas war and Ukraine war with Russia risks bubbling up to much larger scales, as well as the presumptive Republican nominee for president, the election of which will be held in nearly six months, is currently under criminal trial.
Fox News’ Steve Doocy asked Speaker Johnson if he plans to resign from Congress if he is ousted, giving Democrats control of the House, but he dismissed that notion, saying it was an unlikely scenario.
