Representative Massie Promises to Participate in Campaign to Remove Speaker

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., announced on Tuesday that he is co-sponsoring a motion with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to remove Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urging him to resign preemptively.

“You won’t remain as the speaker for much longer,” Massie reportedly told Johnson at a closed-door meeting of the Republican conference, as reported by Politico and Punchbowl News.

According to Punchbowl, Massie advised Johnson to “clean the barn and resign, or else he will be removed.”

Massie then took to Twitter to announce his stance.

“I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the Motion to Vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG. He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker,” Massie posted.

Massie’s public declaration was met with boos and criticism from the majority of the GOP conference, according to reports from Politico and Axios. Massie is the first House Republican to publicly support Greene’s call for Johnson’s removal since her letter of discontent was distributed to the conference last week.

Massie confronted Johnson on Tuesday morning following the Speaker’s announcement of intentions to introduce multiple foreign aid bills, as reported by Axios. This move was a breaking point for House conservatives.

For Massie, it was the final straw, as he outlined his grievances in a tweet.

“Speaker Johnson has led the GOP to pass: 1) an omnibus that spends more than Pelosi’s highest year 2) an expansion of the domestic warrantless surveillance program and this week he’s pushing 3) Schumer’s dream bill which contains $100 billion of foreign aid, mostly for war,” Massie wrote.

If Greene proceeds with the vote to vacate, Johnson would require support from Democrats to retain the gavel.

“Folks are very discouraged. … We are screwed,” one Republican lawmaker expressed to Politico.