Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on House Republicans’ ‘bickering’: ‘Enough is enough’

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on Tuesday expressed support for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), as the speaker faces threats of expulsion over recent policy decisions. House Republicans said the “bickering” needed to stop.

“Instead of bickering and handing control of the House to Democrats, Republicans should do their jobs and vote on the important issues facing this country,” Kemp said. Ta. he wrote in a post on social platform Tuesday. “Come on. I support @SpeakerJohnson.”

Mr. Kemp joined Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who on Tuesday emerged as the first Republican to publicly support Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion calling for Mr. Johnson to step down. ) made this comment in response to a post. Speakership.

Mr Massey’s announcement reveals Mr Johnson plans to push foreign aid through the House of Commons with four separate bills to cover aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other national security priorities. This happened less than 24 hours after the incident.

In a reversal of his previous position, Johnson did not include border security provisions, despite demands from House Republicans for months to link aid to Ukraine to border legislation.

In explaining his decision to support the motion, Mr Massey cited Mr Johnson’s plans to shelve support for Ukraine, as well as the handling of government funds and the reauthorization of US warrantless surveillance powers.

Neither Massey nor Greene have yet said when they will trigger the repeal resolution. With the Republican majority so thin, Mr. Johnson will likely need support from Democrats to keep the gavel. Some Democrats have said in recent weeks that they would help with relief efforts if Mr. Johnson brought aid to Ukraine to the floor.

Several Republican lawmakers on Tuesday blasted the effort to oust the speaker, arguing that no effort would succeed if brought to the floor.

“As I said last week, we have a loose government right now. We can’t get a majority of votes for someone new,” said Rep. Garrett Graves, R-Louisiana. “So I don’t think people are going to go through with it at this point.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who fought for the speaker’s gavel last fall, said there was “no need” for a motion to vacate the Republican conference.

“We don’t want that. We shouldn’t go through something like that again,” he told reporters bluntly, adding that he’s committed to governance and policy for the people who sent us here. I want to continue my efforts to change that,” he told The Hill. “It’s a complete waste of time and a completely ridiculous concept.”

The intraparty split comes just months after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted from the top job in Congress over his handling of government funding and other policy disagreements. Due to internal conflict within the Republican Party, the House of Representatives was without a permanent speaker for nearly three weeks.