'No Fs to give': GOP rep remains committed to oust Mike Johnson despite Trump endorsement

02 January

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is still the favorite to hold the speaker's gavel when the new Congress is sworn in on Friday. But he faces a significant roadblock as one member of his conference is vowing to not cast his vote for Johnson.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is firm in his opposition to Johnson, which could complicate the Louisiana Republican's hopes of winning the speakership on the first ballot. Massie remains the only House Republican who has said he would unconditionally oppose Johnson's bid, though Republicans' extremely slim majority (currently 219-215) means that there is little room for other defections assuming full Democratic attendance and unified Democratic support for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

“I don’t know how to say this without cussing,” Massie told the Journal when asked if he would bend to pressure from his fellow Republicans. “If they thought I had no Fs to give before, I definitely have no Fs to give now.”

Massie's opposition to Johnson is largely due to the speaker's bipartisan work with Democrats to secure $61 billion in additional funding for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia last year, and his dependence on Democratic votes to keep the government funded. In a post to X this week, the Kentucky Republican blasted Johnson for "partner[ing] with the Democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and blow the budget."

The Republican holdout acknowledged that while President-elect Donald Trump endorsed Johnson's candidacy for the speakership, he remains unconvinced that the Louisiana lawmaker is the right person for the job.

"Even if he thinks he’s going to be the guy who does what Trump wants him to do — he’s not that good at it," Massie said of Johnson's failure to unify his conference behind Trump's call to raise the debt ceiling for two more years in the most recent government funding bill. "[Johnson] lacked either the situational awareness or the bravery to tell Trump that it wasn’t doable."

Massie has been a thorn in Johnson's side since earlier this year, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) launched a failed effort to remove Johnson via the same "motion to vacate" that booted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in 2023. Greene's motion was supported by both Massie and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) though Democrats agreed to bail out Johnson in exchange for Ukraine funding.

Click here to read the Journal's article in its entirety (subscription required).

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