Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) appears to be the first Republican to openly say that he will not support Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in the speakership vote in January following the monstrous spending bill released Tuesday evening, which many Republicans say flies in the face of what the American people voted for in November.
The measure released Tuesday evening, which was negotiated for Republicans by Johnson, has sparked outrage, anger, and disbelief among conservative lawmakers across the board, as they say the 1,537-page continuing resolution (CR) is full of pork, flagrantly violating the mandate that Americans voted for in November.
For example, it includes a pay raise for members of Congress and well as a one-year extension of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), which funds organizations that censor conservative media. The lame-duck spending bill also contains a provision allowing lawmakers to opt out of having to use Obamacare.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have expressed their frustrations with Johnson, asserting that he has bowed to lobbyists and lacks a backbone. But Massie appears to be the first — perhaps of many to come — to publicly say that he will not support Johnson in the speakership vote next year, despite Johnson clinching the GOP nomination already.
“I’ll vote for somebody else,” Massie said, according to Politico. “I’ve got a few in mind. I’m not going to say yet.”
“People call me “NostraThomas” for accurately predicting @SpeakerJohnson would use the Christmas recess to force a massive spending bill through Congress,” Massie said on social media.
“After claiming he would not, Johnson is embracing a D.C. tradition that’s nearly as old as decorating Christmas trees,” he added:
It remains unclear if others will join him, but rumors already abound that others are moving away from Johnson.
“Hearing from multiple sources there are other Republicans in the anti-Johnson camp — at least two,” reported PunchBowl News’s Melanie Zanona.
“And critics are floating names behind the scenes of other candidates they’d prefer as speaker, including Jim Jordan & Tom Emmer. But some ppl think this furor will fade by Jan 3,” she added.
In the meantime, what remains abundantly clear is the frustration among Johnson’s colleagues in the upper and lower chambers.
“I had hoped to see @SpeakerJohnson grow a spine, but this bill full of pork shows he is a weak, weak man,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said.
“The debt will continue to grow. Ultimately the dollar will fail. Democrats are clueless and Big Gov Republicans are complicit,” he added. “A sad day for America.”
“The American people just delivered President Trump and congressional Republicans a decisive mandate,” Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) asserted. “So why did our House Republican leadership negotiate the spending bill like we lost?”
“So Congress is failing the American people AGAIN and giving themselves a raise in the process? Can’t make this stuff up,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) said. “I will be voting NO.”
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