U.S. Representative Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) also joined us. my show Earlier this week, we had a lively discussion about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s three tragic betrayals of the Republican Party and why he needs to resign. This is an edited transcript of our discussion.
Thomas Massey: Let’s talk about three major betrayals that we’ve seen in recent weeks. At first it was an omnibus. It was bigger than any omnibus Nancy Pelosi went through. Roll call gave Democrats a majority but only a minority of Republicans. We didn’t fund the border. It was terrible. Still, it came through and Mike Johnson pushed through it. That was the first betrayal.
We cannot keep someone like Mike Johnson in power, who has failed us three times in a row in just a few weeks.
Let’s go to the second betrayal. Again, people say, “Mike has a slim majority. It’s too hard to get anything. We just had to take what we could get.” That story doesn’t apply to FISA because FISA was scheduled to be reauthorized. …We reformed it. There was a provision for a warrant. If you want to put an American’s name in a database and search their collected personal records, you must obtain a warrant. The stars aligned, and Mike Johnson supported the warrant provisions until he became chairman.
People will argue that Johnson wasn’t the tiebreaker or the deciding vote, but I’ll argue that Johnson was, and I’ll explain why. The chair does not often vote on bills or amendments. In fact, he did not vote on the other amendments that were on the floor at FISA that day. He went out of his way to do something he wouldn’t normally do. He voted for the amendment but against the Republican amendment. The vote was 212-212.
I took a photo of the tie vote and noted that he was the one who broke the tie.
A majority of Republicans voted in favor of the warrant requirement, while a majority of Democrats, along with Mike Johnson, voted against the warrant requirement. In the end, there was a tie vote and the bill failed. Don’t say, “Oh, poor Mike Johnson.” He is a very religious conservative and has a narrow majority. It is difficult for him to accomplish anything. ” That’s his excuse. Because ideologically he was in favor of the warrant even before he became Speaker. It was not the minority’s fault that prevented FISA warrants from being obtained. That person was Mike Johnson.
Daniel Horowitz: Now, this is a question of values.
Massey: Yes, his values are contrary to the majority of the conference.
Now, about the third betrayal that just happened. They spent $100 billion on foreign aid packages. This foreign aid grant began as HR 815 in the House of Representatives, which passed with unanimous support as it expanded veterans’ eligibility for emergency medical reimbursement. …It went to the Senate, and the Senate took every word out of it and put supplemental foreign aid in there. Ironically, they are bringing us to the brink of war in places around the world with the vehicles they use that began as Veterans Benefits Bills.
Well, this is what happened on Saturday, but most of my colleagues were unaware. My staff told me: “Mr. President, I don’t think you believe this. I think Mike Johnson is actually in the room. He’s going to take up the Senate bill. He’s going to write another four bills and send them to the Senate. We’re trying to say we’re doing it, but we’re really just taking up the Senate bill.”
That’s what we did. We pretended to vote on her four separate bills that will be introduced in the Senate. But the Rules Committee, which I serve on, saw what was going on and voted against this rule. They said that as soon as these four bills pass, we are going to consider them as amendments to the Senate bill that they sent us.
The other members were like “Mr.” Mr. Speaker, please don’t take us back to the voters and say we just sent $100 billion overseas and did nothing at the border. ”
Mike Johnson wanted Ukraine as passionately as the left, but the majority of Republicans didn’t want Ukraine. He is both the cause and the symptom. But he is at the center of this issue. We haven’t done anything to show our voters that we really work for them.
HOROWITZ: So, looking to the future, you co-signed the motion to resign.
Massey: I think there is value in exposing the Unionist Party. I hope people can look at this now and understand that Mike Johnson is a part of it. But there’s no better way than forcing a vote to clear seats and see where people line up.
We are trying to persuade the Speaker to resign, which is why we are co-sponsoring the motion to vacate. If five or six more people co-sponsor a secession motion, it is clear that without Democrats, Mr Johnson will have no votes. The honorable thing for him to do would be to resign.
It’s whether Johnson cares about this country, whether he cares about our conference. I’m sure he isn’t at this point. But if he does, he will do the honorable thing. He needs to experience that power. Even though he is incompetent at his job, he cannot let go. You know, he’s been involved in all the negotiations and given the Democrats what they want with additional special features. He’s got nothing for conservatives. We cannot keep someone like Mike Johnson in power, who has failed us three times in a row in just a few weeks.
