A second Republican joined a move to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson, pushing the GOP much closer to the chaos of trying to elect a replacement and potentially leaving the chamber unable to conduct legislative business for weeks.
Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, told the speaker during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that he would cosponsor a motion to vacate the chair, which, if passed, would oust Mr. Johnson and trigger an election for a new speaker.
Mr. Massie, along with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, argues that Mr. Johnson has capitulated to the Democrat-led Senate on the most important issues facing the GOP: Government spending, foreign aid and border security.
Mr. Massie did not offer any suggestions for a replacement but said ejecting Mr. Johnson would send a powerful message to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
“The only way that Chuck Schumer gets the message that he can’t roll every speaker we send over there is if every speaker he rolls is no longer speaker,” Mr. Massie told reporters at the Capitol.
Republicans control the majority by one seat, which means a motion to oust Mr. Johnson would pass if Mr. Massie and Ms. Greene are joined by all House Democrats.
Mr. Massie said the motion to vacate was inevitable at this point, and that other GOP lawmakers would side with him and Ms. Greene in a vote to remove him.
“Regardless of what I want, it’s going to happen,” said Mr. Massie, who wears a homemade federal debt monitor on his lapel.“He can prevent all of that by resigning.”
Mr. Massie’s announcement follows a move by Mr. Johnson to bring a trio of foreign aid bills to the floor that do not include the border security provisions that Republicans are clamoring for.
Dozens of Republicans are poised to vote against advancing the aid measures.
Mr. Johnson, 51, was elected speaker after weeks of tumult in the House following the ouster of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. Mr. Johnson told reporters Tuesday he’s not planning to resign and that the House GOP will “work this out today.”
Mr. Johnson was elected on Oct. 25 after three weeks of chaos and infighting after a handful of Republicans and all Democrats voted to oust Mr. McCarthy, a California Republican who has since resigned from Congress.
Mr. Johnson won the gavel after House Republicans rejected three other GOP nominees. If he, too, is pushed out, the prospects for finding a quick replacement within the ranks of the House GOP are slim.
“This is the fastest way to shoot ourselves in the foot in an election year,” a House Republican who asked to remain anonymous told The Washington Times.
The lawmaker said the GOP’s leader, former President Donald Trump, “is the only one who can stop it.”
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, is tied up in a Manhattan courtroom where he’s on trial over alleged hush money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Republicans say Mr. Johnson’s inability to pass strong border security measures through Congress is the main reason his job is now on the line.
“We were told border security was a hill to die on, and it hasn’t been,” Rep. Paul Gosar, Arizona Republican, said.
He said, “There is a lot more support than most people think” for pushing out Mr. Johnson, but that Republicans are wary of the timing. House Republicans are up for re-election in November.
“We’d like to see a speaker that has some resolve, and we are not seeing that,” Mr. Gosar said.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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