April 18, 2024 (EIRNS)—U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) called upon House Speaker Mike Johnson to resign on April 15, during Johnson’s closed-door meeting with GOP lawmakers. Johnson had met with President Joe Biden the previous morning to discuss the additional $60 billion for funding the war in Ukraine, and, despite GOP opposition, he apparently went all-in for Biden’s funding. Johnson rejected Massie’s call, and yesterday he declared: “I am not resigning. And it is, in my view, an absurd notion.”
Massie said he will co-sponsor the motion by Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to vacate the Speaker position. He maintained that there are enough votes to oust Johnson from the post. After the April 15 interchange, the next day Massie posted on X: “I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the Motion to Vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene]. He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker.”
