Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pulled back and said Friday that he plans to vote for someone other than Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) in the Jan. 3 election for House speaker.
“I'm voting for anyone other than Mike Johnson,” he said. “I'm voting for someone other than Mike Johnson,” he said. A weak and dependent legislature will not be able to accomplish its mission.” Voters cast their votes for President Trump and Congress in November. ”
He also shared the results of a poll he conducted about Mr. X, in which MPs were asked whether they should vote for Mr. Johnson or someone else. With 179,495 votes cast, an overwhelming majority (93%) said Congress should vote for “someone else.” Just 7% said MPs should vote for Mr Johnson.
Mr. Massey became the first member of the House of Representatives to publicly say he would not support Mr. Johnson following his disastrous and wasteful spending bill, which worried countless Republicans. They argued that the bill is inconsistent with the mandate given to them by the American people in November.
The original 1,537-page continuing resolution (CR) negotiated by Mr Johnson included a number of other points, including pay increases for MPs. Several Republicans in both houses of Congress pushed back, with Rand Paul labeling Johnson a “weak, weak” man.
“I'm going to vote for someone else,” Massey said after the original bill was announced. “I have a few things on my mind. I'm not going to say anything yet.”
President-elect Donald Trump echoed this sentiment, confessing that he was “totally opposed” to the original CR.
President Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said in a joint statement: “The stupidest and most incompetent thing Congressional Republicans ever did was allow our nation to reach the debt ceiling in 2025.” . “That's a mistake and it's something we have to deal with now.”
He continued:
“Meanwhile, Congress is considering a spending bill that would give government censors and Liz Cheney sweetheart clauses,” the statement continued. “This bill would make it easier to hide the record of the corrupt January 6th commission, which accomplished nothing for the American people, and which did not address the security concerns that occurred that day. The bill would also give Congress a pay raise at a time when many Americans are struggling this Christmas.
“Raising the debt ceiling is not a great thing, but I would rather do it on Biden's watch,” the statement continued. “If Democrats won't cooperate on the debt ceiling now, why would anyone think they will do so in June under our administration? Let's have this discussion now. And what Chuck Schumer and the Democrats want? We should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn't give away everything.
In the end, Johnson went He moved to Plan C, an attempt to avoid a government shutdown after rejecting the original deal, but managed to deliver a gift to Democrats before Christmas by increasing spending levels. More specifically, not a single Democrat actually voted against the renegotiation bill.
It remains unclear how many Republicans intend to vote for someone other than Johnson for speaker, but some have hinted that they are open to other options.
