Northern Kentucky’s U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie is joining fellow Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in her call to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.
During a weekly Republican meeting on Tuesday morning, Massie called for Speaker Johnson to resign. In a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, Massie revealed that he would be co-sponsoring the official motion to vacate Johnson’s role as Speaker of the House, originally introduced by Greene.
“I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the motion to vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG,” Johnson said. “He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker.”
Speaker Johnson has been facing mounting pressure from hardline conservatives who have criticized him for pushing foreign aid packages and increasing government spending, among other things. At least for Massie’s part, the Northern Kentucky politician appears to be upset with Johnson for bringing forward a vote on a TikTok ban, foreign aid and other legislation without any mention of border security.
While speaking with Axios, fellow House Republicans, who revealed that Massie received boos from other Republicans during his speech calling for Johnson’s resignation, seem surprised by Massie’s actions.
“I know he’s a dyed in the wool libertarian … but I was surprised to hear that kind of extremism,” John Duarte (R-Calif.) told Axios.
Johnson has said that he will not resign and plans to push forward four separate bills this week: one bill regarding a TikTok ban and three bills that supply foreign aid to Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel. Greene has said that she will trigger a vote to oust Speaker Johnson if he brings forward a vote on aid for Ukraine.
This article appears in Best Of Cincinnati.
