Another Republican calls for Johnson’s ouster

Emerging from the weekly House Republican conference meeting, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced he would sign on as a co-sponsor of a motion to oust the House speaker. Massie said he would support Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate because Johnson has not secured conservative wins during his six months as speaker.

“Yeah, I asked him to resign. He said he would not. We’re steering everything towards what Chuck Schumer wants,” Massie said, referencing the Democratic majority leader in the Senate. “There has not been a change. I mean if the country likes Chuck Schumer, then they should like what Speaker Johnson’s accomplishing.”

Massie’s decision comes as the House is set to consider a slate of foreign aid bills. One of them would fund aid to Ukraine and faces fierce resistance from the most conservative members in the House. For months, they have warned the speaker against passing aid to Ukraine without first addressing security needs at the U.S. southern border.

Johnson says he is navigating a historically difficult situation. At a GOP leadership news conference on Tuesday morning, he defended himself against Massie’s attacks.

“We need steady hands at the wheel,” Johnson said. “Look, I regard myself as a war-time speaker. I knew that when I took the gavel. I didn’t anticipate this would be an easy path. A single-vote margin at a difficult time when the nation is terribly divided. The way we get through that is we show unity, and we explain how we have answers to these great challenges.”

According to several accounts from members leaving the closed-door GOP meeting Tuesday morning, the conference didn’t react well to Massie’s announcement. A handful of members reported the room broke out in booing.

“I don’t think the threat is really real at this point because you don’t have an alternative,” said Rep. Garret Graves, R-La.

In October, it took Republicans weeks after ousting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to elect Johnson, who was selected after three other nominees failed to win enough support from the GOP caucus. Massie said Republicans should start looking for Johnson’s replacement while he continues in the role for now—similar to the end of Rep. John Boehner’s speakership in 2015 when a broad party consensus helped to quickly install Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to replace him.

“Just like when Boehner left, Johnson would announce that he is leaving as soon as we get another speaker. We can commence finding that person,” Massie said.

If all 213 Democrats voted in favor of the motion to remove Johnson, it would take just three Republican votes to secure a majority and ensure its success. As of Tuesday, neither Massie nor Greene had said when or if they intended to force floor vote on the measure. Once they start the clock, the chamber must vote on the motion within two legislative days.

When asked if he thought Republicans would go through with the motion to vacate, Graves said he wasn’t sure.

“I mean do I believe that people actually think through their decisions? No,” he said. “I think we have a number of people here who don’t think passed step one, which is why we have so many problems here right now. It’s not in our interest to do it.”