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You are here: Home / Featured / WILL MIKE JOHNSON BE OUSTED? WILL HE PUT UKRAINE AID UP FOR A VOTE?

WILL MIKE JOHNSON BE OUSTED? WILL HE PUT UKRAINE AID UP FOR A VOTE?

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by Pat Byrnes, PoliticalCartoons.com

Is Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson about to be ousted? Will he follow in the political footsteps of Kevin McCarthy and be on the losing end of a move to vacate vote?

And – a bigger issue – will he allow a vote to take place for aid to a struggling Ukraine? Or will he continue to block a vote or offer a tepid aid package that would not be enough aid, and therefore brand him and the Republican Party as having effectively helped Vladimir Putin win the brutal war?

While the bulk of news coverage has focused on the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump, another big political drama has been unfolding on Capitol Hill: Rep. Marjory Taylor Greene (the “Jewish Space Lasers” lady) wants to file a motion to vacate to oust Johnson, particularly because Johnson is veering to allow a vote on Ukraine aid. But now she has company:

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday he will co-sponsor a resolution to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from the House’s top job.

Massie told his colleagues during a closed-door conference meeting that he wilGAl co-sponsor the motion to vacate resolution filed late last month by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), according to three GOP lawmakers in the room, becoming the first lawmaker to publicly join Greene’s effort.

Massie told his colleagues during a closed-door conference meeting that he will co-sponsor the motion to vacate resolution filed late last month by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), according to three GOP lawmakers in the room, becoming the first lawmaker to publicly join Greene’s effort.

Massie’s announcement came less than 24 hours after Johnson unveiled the outline of a plan to move foreign aid through the House, which includes voting on three separate bills to send assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and a fourth measure that pertains to other national security priorities.

But in a departure from his previous positions, Johnson did not include border security provisions in the plan after months of Republicans — including the Speaker — demanding that any aid for Ukraine be paired with legislation to address the situation at the southern border, sparking intense opposition among conservatives.

Speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s meeting, Massie referenced Johnson’s decision to put Ukraine aid on the floor — in addition to his handling of government funding and the reauthorization of the U.S.’s warrantless surveillance authority — to explain why he is now backing the ouster effort.

The Washington Post:

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s job is in serious jeopardy as two far-right lawmakers are threatening to oust him after the embattled Republican leader proposed a complex plan intended to fund key foreign allies during wartime.

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Johnson (La.) introduced a four-part proposal Monday night to decouple aid for Israel, which faced a barrage of missiles and drones from Iran over the weekend, and help for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, along with two other measures. But his angry right flank — which has for weeks threatened to wrest Johnson’s gavel — escalated its attacks Tuesday morning, also vowing to sink a procedural measure needed to consider his plan.

During a weekly Republican meeting Tuesday morning, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.) upped the ante when he stood and called on Johnson to resign after announcing that he had signed on to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s plan to depose him, known as a motion to vacate.

That means that if Democrats chose not to rescue Johnson, Republicans would need just a simple majority to oust their second speaker in six months, causing the House to descend further into chaos during an election year when their slender grasp on the majority is at stake. Republicans appear seriously divided not only about the possible effort to eject Johnson, but also on the foreign aid bills, especially the Ukraine aid that a strident faction staunchly opposes.

Massie said he had warned the speaker in a private conversation “weeks ago” that if the motion to oust him was called to the floor, and Democrats did not help bail him out, Republicans would be successful in removing him as speaker because “we’re steering everything toward what [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer wants.”

“The motion is going to get called, okay? Does anybody doubt that? The motion will get called, and then he’s going to lose more votes than Kevin McCarthy,” Massie said, referencing the previous GOP speaker, who lost the gavel when eight Republicans joined all Democrats to oust him in October.

Johnson vows not to resign:

A defiant House Speaker Mike Johnson, facing growing threats to his speakership, said Tuesday he is not resigning and dismissed threats to his gavel as “absurd” after a second Republican member of Congress threatened to oust Johnson for his handling of legislation to send foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel.

After Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said he would co-sponsor an effort to oust Johnson from his job and called on him to resign, the Louisiana Republican described himself as a “wartime speaker” in challenging times.

“I am not resigning,” Johnson told reporters. “And it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs.”

Republican hardliners are growing angry at Johnson’s complex plan to advance billions of dollars in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Massie told Republican colleagues behind closed doors Tuesday morning that he will cosponsor the motion to vacate Johnson from his position.

The comments highlight a significant escalation of the far right’s threat to Johnson’s leadership that have dogged the Louisiana Republican since Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia filed a resolution to vacate the chair last month.

Massie was booed by his Republican colleagues after he made this announcement, according to one of the sources, and then GOP Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi stood up and criticized Massie, saying it’s “wrong” to not back the speaker.

“I asked him to resign,” Massie told CNN after the meeting. “He said he would not. And then I said, ‘Well, you’re the one who’s going to put us into this,’ because the motion is going to get called up. OK. Does anybody doubt that? The motion will get called up, and then he’s going to lose more votes than (former House Speaker) Kevin McCarthy, and I have told him this in private, like, weeks ago.”

Massie’s comments show how Johnson would likely need to rely on Democratic votes to pass his foreign aid package – as well as potentially to save his job – as Republicans control only a razor thin majority, and efforts to send foreign aid to Ukraine have divided the GOP.

Johnson, however, disputed Tuesday that he will have to rely on Democratic support to save his job, insisting House Republicans “are going to work this out.”

The text of the plan has not been released, so House Democrats are still weighing whether to bail out Johnson – or stand up against it and pressure Republicans to instead take up the $95 billion Senate package that Johnson has sidelined for two months.

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