Rep. Matt Gaetz, the former firebrand lawmaker who instigated former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's overthrow of House Republicans last year, says his resistance to House Speaker Mike Johnson is “now futile” after President-elect Donald Trump's support. he declared.
But that and Trump's support will do nothing to placate Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has been Johnson's most outspoken House critic and who has expressed opposition to Johnson becoming speaker. It was of no use.
“While I respect and support President Trump, I think his support for Mike Johnson will fare just as well as his support for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan,” Massey replied to posted an image of an article detailing past support for the former House Republican. Leader Paul Ryan.
“We've seen Mr. Johnson work with Democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and massively inflate the budget.”
Massey, 53, supports Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary. Has had a feud with Trump in the pastangry at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the spending dispute, vowed last week to vote for a different speaker.
The Kentucky lawmaker was among the Republican hardliners who opposed Mr. Gates' attempt to topple Mr. McCarthy last fall.
Gates, 42, opposed the latest attempt to remove Johnson, 52, R-Louisiana, from office in May, but said that removing the Louisiana native from the speakership would make Trump He warned that the certification of his election victory could be in jeopardy.
“Trump's support for Johnson is an 'art of agreement' level of practicality. If Trump's certification was at stake, he could not have forced McCarthy to concede two years ago. Now. It is happening,” Gates wrote to X.
“The reason we were able to keep McCarthy was because Republican voters didn't really want us to go back to being a Biden bitch (even though Kevin did eventually) Resistance against @SpeakerJohnson is now futile.”
Early Monday morning, President Trump gave Johnson his “full and complete support,” in which he warned Republicans “not to squander this incredible opportunity we've been given.”
Voting for the Speaker election is scheduled to take place this Friday, January 3, 2025, three days before the certification of the 2024 election takes place next Monday.
When there is no Speaker in the House, the Speaker is largely limited to seeking the gavel. In theory, the lower chamber might be able to Tweak the rules Allow moderator speakers.
Republicans are expected to hold a majority in the House of Representatives, giving Mr Johnson little breathing room. Mr. McCarthy had received 15 votes by the time he lost the speaker's gavel last January.
Other ambivalent Republicans said they were less moved by President Trump's support.
“I understand why President Trump supports Speaker Johnson as much as Speaker Ryan, which is definitely important. But we need to get assurances that @SpeakerJohnson won't sell us into the swamp.” and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) wrote an article for X about Trump's support for Ryan and the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ind.). -Arizona)
Ryan retired from Congress midway through Trump's first term in the Oval Office.
After President Trump endorsed Johnson, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) also told Fox News that Johnson “hasn't committed publicly or privately yet.”
“I want to talk to you about something. [with] The speaker came just to see his plans, as there are some issues that seem to need to be resolved. ”
Gates believes that instead of plotting to get rid of Johnson, his former colleagues should focus on “making him the best version of himself (something closer to Mike's 2023 vintage).” There is.
Mr. Gaetz spearheaded a revolt against Mr. McCarthy (R-Calif.) last fall after he pushed for a stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown. He was joined by seven other Republicans and a solid bloc of Democrats.
The insurrection halted Congress for nearly a month as Republicans fought over who would be the next speaker. Trump opposed overthrowing McCarthy.
Ironically, since then, Mr. Johnson has struggled with five similar stopgap measures to forestall a shutdown, while Mr. Gates has made no effort to oust him. Mr Gates opposed efforts to oust Mr Johnson in May after he pushed through comprehensive resupply aid to war-torn Ukraine.
Mr. McCarthy has long accused Mr. Gates of conspiring to oust him because he refused to intervene in the House Ethics Committee's investigation into him.
Last week, the committee released a damning report on Gaetz, laying out accusations that the former representative used illegal drugs, paid women for sex and had sex with minors.
Gaetz denied having sex with minors, but admitted he was a womanizer who drank and smoked during his party days. He resigned from the 118th Congress last month after President Trump nominated him to be U.S. attorney general, but the plot came under fire.
The Sunshine State Republican is scheduled to make his first political appearance on One America News Network and has ruled out returning to the 119th Congress.
