'Republicans should do their damn job': Georgia governor slams House GOP’s 'bickering'

16 April 2024

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) is publicly condemning the effort by far-right members of the House Republican Conference to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) from his position.

In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Kemp threw his weight behind Johnson, quote-tweeting a post by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) in which he indicated he would support the effort to strip Johnson of the gavel.

"Instead of bickering amongst themselves and handing Democrats control of the House, Republicans should do their damn job and vote on the important issues facing our nation," Kemp tweeted. "Enough is enough."

Johnson has faced calls for his removal over his stated plans to pass a critical foreign aid package approving additional money for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine that already passed the U.S. Senate with broad bipartisan support two months ago. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has threatened to bring a motion to vacate Johnson to the House floor if he passes the foreign aid bill, which could succeed if all Democrats and a handful of Republicans vote for it. With Massie's decision to cosponsor it, Johnson losing his job is not outside the realm of possibility.

The Kentucky Republican clarified his position in a response to a supporter, saying the issues he had with the speaker were "a pallet of bricks" on the back of the "camel" (Johnson). He not only disapproved of Johnson's intent to move Ukraine aid through the House, but that he also disagreed with his decision to re-authorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for the warrantless wiretapping of foreign nationals.

"[Johnson] should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker," Massie tweeted.

While the Senate passed the measure as one package, Johnson has said he will separate the package into four separate bills, allowing for up-or-down votes on each of the foreign aid items. Notably, border security — a major campaign sticking point for former President Donald Trump and Republicans across the country — is not among the provisions in the bills up for a vote.

Johnson has only been speaker for six months, and emerged with the gavel after House Republicans tried and failed to elevate House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) and House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). The House was paralyzed for nearly a month after eight Republicans and all Democrats voted to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) from his role.

And if Johnson is removed via a motion to vacate instead of by resigning, as Massie has suggested, there's no ironclad guarantee that his replacement would be a Republican. Because the Constitution stipulates that the House can't officially pass legislation before electing a speaker, it's likely there could be another lengthy, fractious battle for the gavel after a Johnson ouster that may end in House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) emerging with the gavel. In every official vote for speaker, Jeffries has had the support of 100% of his caucus. And if two Republicans defect to the Democratic side, Jeffries could be the next speaker despite being in the minority.

In an interview with The Hill, Jordan made it clear that he would not be in favor of another battle for the speakership.

"We don’t want that. We shouldn’t go through that again,” he told reporters. "[A]nd quite frankly, want to continue to try to move the needle on governing and delivering for the people that sent us here."

"It’s a total waste of time and absolute ridiculous concept," he added.

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