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Motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson gets co-sponsor over Ukraine aid

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on

Published in News & Features

House Speaker Mike Johnson slipped into deeper political peril Tuesday as a second GOP lawmaker backed an effort to oust him over his support for aid to embattled Ukraine.

Rep. Thomas Massie, an archconservative from Kentucky, said he would co-sponsor a measure introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, that could end Johnson’s tumultuous speakership after just a few months.

“He should pre-announce his resignation ... so we can pick a new Speaker,” Massie tweeted.

“It’s time for a new Speaker,” Greene chimed in.

Johnson wasted little time hitting back at the growing right-wing rebellion against his leadership, calling it “absurd” and vowing he would not step down.

“It is not helpful to the cause. It is not helpful to the country. It is not helpful to the House Republicans,” Johnson said.

 

Republicans hold only a five-vote majority in the House, an edge that will be reduced to just four on Friday when Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher’s resignation becomes effective.

Losing two Republican votes could be enough to prevent Johnson from winning a required vote to keep him in the speaker post if all Democrats were to vote against him.

The House would then be plunged back into chaos with no leader until a majority can unite behind a new speaker.

Massie said he had warned Johnson he would lose more than the eight votes ex-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., lost last year, ending his own grip on the speaker’s gavel.

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