Rep. Thomas Massie threatened to force a vote to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from his position, saying he had lost support from House Republicans.
Massie had asked Johnson to resign after Johnson introduced a plan for foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan that lacked border security provisions, which Massie and other conservatives opposed.
Massie predicted the proposal would fail and said Johnson should remove the legislation.
While Johnson refused to resign, Massie said he had less Republican support than the 8 who previously voted against Kevin McCarthy.
Other Republicans were divided on whether Massie’s accusations had merit, with some agreeing Johnson risked ignoring the conference’s desires, and others calling Massie’s threat ridiculous.
“I asked him to resign…he said he would not,” Massie said. “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.”
Massie said, “We ended up with some guy nobody in America ever heard of.”
“It is, in my view an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate 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.”
“I’m the canary in the coal mine. This rule’s dead on arrival,” Massie said.
Massie said he would sign onto an existing resolution from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to vacate Johnson’s speakership.
However, Republican leadership is not compelled to hold a vote unless the resolution is filed as a privileged motion.
“I think if the speaker ignores the obvious desire of the conference to include border control [in the foreign aid plan], and I think a lot of people who want part of this to be paid for, I think he ignores that at his own risk,” Rep. Andy Harris said.
