Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) announced Tuesday he would co-sponsor Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) motion to vacate the chair.

“I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the Motion to Vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG. He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker,” Massie said.

Massie stated:

Speaker Johnson has led the GOP to pass:

1) an omnibus that spends more than Pelosi’s highest year

2) an expansion of the domestic warrantless surveillance program

and this week he’s pushing

3) Schumer’s dream bill which contains $100 billion of foreign aid, mostly for war.

“TOM MASSIE said in a closed House Republican meeting that he’s going to cosponsor the motion to vacate, per several sources in the room,” Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman said.

“MASSIE told Johnson in front of the entire House Republican Conference that he should clean the barn and resign or else he’ll be vacated,” Sherman added.

“We have a rudder. We’re steering everything toward what Chuck Schumer wants,” Massie said, according to Sherman.

Mike Johnson reportedly said “I am not resigning.”

According to CNN reporter Melanie Zanona, Massie was booed by his Republican colleagues after he made the announcement.

As a reminder, Johnson voted against the amendment to include warrants to spy on Americans in the reauthorization of FISA Section 702.

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“This is how the Constitution dies. By a tie vote, the amendment to require a warrant to spy on Americans goes down in flames. This is a sad day for America. The Speaker doesn’t always vote in the House, but he was the tie breaker today. He voted against warrants,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) commented.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he’s not sure if there’s a difference between Johnson in charge versus Democrats in charge.

“Americans shouldn’t be spied on by their own government. The 4th Amendment was put in by our Founding Fathers to protect us. FISA doesn’t obey the 4th Amendment,” Paul explained.

“Speaker Johnson was incredibly wrong. He broke the tie. He voted with the Democrats. Here we have the leader of the Republicans in the House votes with the Democrats against a warrant requirement,” Paul continued.

“We also have Speaker Johnson voting for the spending package, once again with the majority of the Democrats. As I see it now, I’m not so sure there’s a difference between Mike Johnson being in charge and the Democrats being in charge,” he added.

WATCH:

Johnson is pushing legislation that would provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

From the Associated Press:

House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing toward action this week on aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, unveiling an elaborate plan Monday to break the package into separate votes to squeeze through the House’s political divides on foreign policy.

Facing an outright rebellion from conservatives fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, the Republican speaker’s move on the foreign aid package was a potentially watershed moment, the first significant action on the bill after more than two months of delay. But Johnson’s intention to hold four separate votes on parts of the package also left it open to being significantly altered from the $95 billion aid package the Senate passed in February.

It’s unclear if the House could end up with a package that is similar to the Senate’s bill or something significantly different, which could complicate the months-long, painstaking effort to get Congress to approve military funding for Ukraine.

“We will let the House work its will,” Johnson told reporters.

But as the House has struggled to act, conflicts around the world have escalated. Israel’s military chief said Monday that his country will respond to Iran’s weekend missile strike. And Ukraine’s military head warned over the weekend that the battlefield situation in the country’s east has “significantly worsened in recent days,” as warming weather has allowed Russian forces to launch a fresh offensive.

 

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