
Another Republican lawmaker last week joined Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in calling for the ouster of Speaker Mike Johnson, CBS News reported.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie announced last Tuesday that he informed Speaker Johnson in a conference meeting that he was co-sponsoring Greene’s motion to vacate the chair.
Massie called on Speaker Johnson to “pre-announce his resignation” so the Republicans could choose a new speaker without leaving the post vacant.
In a press conference following the conference meeting, the speaker insisted that he would not resign and said it was “absurd” to file a motion to vacate when lawmakers were “simply here trying to do our jobs.”
Johnson said the motion was not “helpful” to the country nor did it help the Republican majority advance its agenda.
Massie told reporters that the motion to vacate would get called and Johnson would “lose more votes” than former speaker Kevin McCarthy.
When asked about the motion following Tuesday’s court proceedings in Manhattan, Donald Trump said, “We’ll see what happens with that.”
Massie joined in calling for Johnson’s ouster after the speaker unveiled a plan last Monday night to have the House vote on separate foreign aid bills to provide funding to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
On Thursday, the House Rules Committee voted to move the foreign aid bills to the floor for a vote, against the wishes of three Republican committee members, including Massie, who voted against the rule since border security was not included.
The speaker did put forward a border bill for a vote on Friday, however, it failed to pass the Rules Committee Thursday night. Speaker Johnson said the House would still consider the measure using the suspension of the rule process, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass.
Following the Rules Committee vote clearing the way for the foreign aid bills, Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert said it could spell “the beginning of the end” for Speaker Johnson.