Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) issued a harsh warning to House Republican leadership that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) should voluntarily resign in order to best the conference. He challenged House Republican leadership to get the message across.
Massey and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced Wednesday that they would force a vote on Greene’s motion to resign “next week.” Their pledge was co-sponsored by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). It comes less than 24 hours after he issued a statement saying he would defend Mr Johnson’s gavel from the Conservatives. by voting to pass a motion to abstain.
Greene and Massey argue that a Republican majority is better than the coalition government with Democrats that Johnson achieved, and Massey argues that Johnson allowed him to move into Ukraine without providing government funding, authorization to monitor American citizens, and securing the border. He denounced the “three betrayals” he had provided.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 1: Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks at a press conference with Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) at the U.S. Capitol on May 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. state). During the press conference, Greene announced that she would move forward with a motion to remove U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Mr Massey used the press conference to “call on members of my conference to think long and hard about whether they want to join the Unionist Party next week”, and in particular called on the Republican leadership to intervene on Mr Johnson.
“We have a leadership team, a team of leaders from the chair of the conference to the whip to the majority leader. Why do we have a team? We’re building a team where members of the team can meet and say, “You’re no longer cut out for this job.”
He continued, looking for a weapon.
So I challenge the whip, the majority leader, the conference chair, the policy chair, everyone in the conference to sit down and talk to Mike Johnson and tell him it’s not worth it, Mike. It is not worth sharing power with Hakeem Jeffries just for the vanity of you retaining the title of speaker. It’s not good for our country. It’s not useful for our meetings. They need to ask him to resign. That’s what they should do. And I ask them to have that tough discussion.
Breitbart News features Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-New York), and Gary Palmer Policy. I asked the office of the committee chairman (R-Ala.) if he would vote. Democratic leaders will consider whether to submit a motion to resign and consider asking Johnson to resign.
There was no response from any of the offices.
Mr. Massey and Mr. Greene said Wednesday that Mr. Johnson’s partnership with Democratic leadership will continue to control the House’s legislative agenda this year, weakening Republican prospects in November and ultimately handing the gavel to Mr. Jeffries. He claimed it was a strategic move.
“Thanks to Mike Johnson, our entire leadership team will be promoted in January,” Massey said.
“Where’s our leadership team? They need to come together like Hakeem’s team, and they need to rally around Mike Johnson and say, Mike, it’s time to leave Congress.”
Bradley Jay is Breitbart News’ Capitol Hill correspondent. Follow him on X/Twitter. @BradleyAJay.
