House Republicans are frustrated by the push to oust Speaker Johnson by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie
During a closed-door conference meeting on Tuesday morning, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., urged Johnson to step down or face a possible vote to vacate the speaker’s chair. He’s now signed onto a resolution introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., last month to oust Johnson over his actions on government spending and foreign aid.
Johnson, for his part, told reporters he would not step down and called the threats "absurd."
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus who ran for speaker after McCarthy’s ouster, called vacating Johnson a "bad idea."
"We don't need that. No way, no way. We don't. We don't want that. We shouldn't go through that again," Jordan told reporters.
I WANT MY MTV (MOTION TO VACATE): SPEAKER JOHNSON FACES POTENTIAL THREAT WHEN CONGRESS RETURNS
House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good refused to discuss motion to vacate with reporters. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
And Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., who was close to McCarthy when he was speaker but has a noticeably more distant relationship with Johnson, said it was not in the House GOP’s interest to oust his fellow Louisianan.
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"I think we have a number of people here that, they don't think past step one, which is why we have so many problems here right now," he said of the vacate push.
Massie said he would sign onto Greene's existing resolution to vacate Johnson. But unless they file it as a privileged motion, as was the case with McCarthy, there is nothing compelling House Republican leadership to hold a vote. If they do file it as privileged, however, the House will be forced to act on it within two legislative days.
Neither Massie nor Greene were part of the eight Republicans to oust McCarthy in October, and criticized the people who did so.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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