WASHINGTON – Ahead of last month’s holiday break, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Crescent Springs) has decided that someone other than Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will be speaker of the House when the new Congress begins on Friday. I vowed to vote.
“He doesn’t have my vote,” Massey said on Dec. 18. “I think he’s losing political capital by the second.”
Mr. Massey has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Johnson for months, arguing that the Louisiana Republican is not up to the task.
Last year, Massey was part of the effort to oust Johnson as speaker of the House of Representatives, in part because he worked with Democrats to pass billions of dollars in foreign aid.
This initiative failed to garner sufficient support.
In a social media post on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump expressed support for Johnson.
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized them, calling them “contrarian House Republicans,” saying, “I challenge them to explain what their end goal is other than noise.” .
But Mr Massey only doubled down on his opponents’ claims, saying Mr Johnson “won as the least offensive candidate, so he no longer deserves that title”.
It is not clear who Mr. Massey intends to support for speaker in Friday’s vote.
He said last month that he had several people in mind.
Fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul also slammed Mr. Johnson, calling it “pathetic” that he voted against a bill last year that would have required foreign surveillance warrants.
