According to recent reports, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) announced he would be cosponsoring Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) motion to vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson. As of recently, Speaker Johnson has faced intense criticism from within his party for allegedly failing to uphold Republican values in policy issues.
“I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the Motion to Vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG,” Massie posted on X. “He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker.”
Massie recently spoke to reporters about the motion, explaining how, under Johnson’s leadership, the House is feeding into the interests of Democrats in the Senate. “Yeah I asked him to resign…he said he would not…because the motion is going to get called, ok. Does anybody doubt that?” Massie said. The representative further claimed that if the motion is called “there will be a lot of people who vote for it.
The Kentucky Republican announced he would support Rep. MTG’s efforts to remove Speaker Johnson from his position after he announced he would bring several foreign aid bills to the floor. Greene’s motion to vacate follows Johnson pushing through a $1.2 trillion minibus spending bill to fund the government through the 2024 fiscal year.
Reportedly, Johnson is planning to pass four different foreign aid supplemental spending bills under a single rule, known as a MIRV (multiple impact reentry vehicles). This maneuver would bundle the four different packages together in a single bill, which would be presented to the Senate.
Executive Director of Citizens for Renewing America Wade Miller commented on the MIRV, stating, “By using a process known as MIRV to combine a series of passed bills into one bill that then gets sent to the Senate without a vote, Speaker Johnson once again jamming up conservatives with the worst possible option, giving Democrats and moderate Republicans what they want. If conservatives vote for the rule, but then vote for none, one, or all of the foreign aid bills, they will all get packaged together and sent to the Senate anyways. It’s a loaded process.”
Rep. MTG recently spoke about her motion to vacate, illustrating the dire need for a new Republican speaker in the house. “We need a new speaker. This is not personal against Mike Johnson. He’s a very good man and I have respect for him as a person, but he is not doing the job,” she said. “The proof is in the vote count today. He passed a budget that should have never been brought to the floor did not represent our conference.”
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The Georgia Republican further criticized Speaker Johnson on X, claiming he was “working behind the scenes with Democrats” to hold his position amid the challenges within the GOP. She continued explaining that Johnson has essentially flipped parties and become the “Democrat Speaker.”
“Mike Johnson is working behind the scenes with Democrats to save his speakership. He owes our entire conference a meeting explaining his plans to change the rules WITH DEMOCRAT HELP on Motion to Vacate. I filed a Motion to Vacate because Johnson has became the Democrat Speaker of the House. And with his actions, he’s proving to everyone I was right,” Greene wrote.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.