Second Lawmaker Joins Push to Oust Speaker Mike Johnson

WASHINGTON—A second House Republican lawmaker said he planned to join an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, a day after the embattled party leader introduced a plan to pass bills funding Ukraine, Israel and other overseas allies.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) said Tuesday morning that he is planning to join Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on her motion to vacate the speaker chair, which could lead to a vote to oust the speaker. Greene filed the motion last month, but hasn’t moved to force a vote.

In a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, Massie called for Johnson to announce his resignation now so that Republicans can have a leadership election before he departs.

Massie told Johnson: “You’re the only one who can stop a MTV,” according to a person in the room. Johnson replied: “No, the person moving the MTV is the only person who can stop it.”

Massie’s move comes amid growing frustration among a large bloc of Republican conservatives over how Johnson has repeatedly turned to Democrats to help pass legislation to fund the government and other critical bills, such as the recent reauthorization of a contentious surveillance bill. These dissidents argue Johnson hasn’t driven a hard enough bargain with Democrats on issues such as cutting spending, while Johnson counters that his historically narrow majority—coupled with Democratic control of the Senate and the White House—has left the party with a weak hand.

While Greene and Massie haven’t said they would call for a vote, the move shows how Johnson’s work to pass funding for U.S. allies abroad could be the last straw. Johnson is also expected to need Democrats’ help in coming days to guide the new foreign-aid package through House procedural votes.

Johnson unveiled a plan late Monday to bring separate bills funding Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to the House floor, in a maneuver aimed at breaking a long deadlock over a $95 billion foreign-aid package the Senate passed earlier this year. But the bill excludes any border provisions, which some Republicans had demanded as a condition for any new Ukraine aid.

“We’ve said multiple times over the last six months, border first, before Ukraine,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas).

In rolling out his plan, Johnson was trying to find a middle path that would give the House some power in shaping the bill. Other congressional leaders of both parties and President Biden had urged Johnson to take up the Senate bill. Instead, Johnson is splitting the aid up in an effort to work around a large bloc of Republicans—including Greene—who have long opposed sending more money to Ukraine.

Republicans have a 218-213 majority, with four vacancies. That means Johnson would only be able to lose two Republican votes and still keep his post, unless some Democrats in the chamber decide to bail him out. Wisconsin GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher also plans to leave Congress on April 19, making the majority even slimmer. Democrats have indicated that they would step in to save Johnson’s job if Republicans moved to oust him over Ukraine.

“I like Marjorie, I like Massie, but that’s not what a motion to vacate was designed for, it was designed for scandal,” said Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.).

A motion to vacate filed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) felled former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) in a historic vote on Oct. 3, when eight Republicans and all Democrats voted to remove McCarthy. It was the first time that the motion to vacate had successfully been used to oust a speaker and plunged the Republican-led House into three weeks of feuding and chaos.

Write to Natalie Andrews at [email protected]