Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky indicated that no scenario would push him to re-elect Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Friday — not even if someone were pulling out his fingernails.
“You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my finger, I am not voting for Mike Johnson,” Massie told former representative Matt Gaetz on his new primetime show on the conservative One America News Network (OAN).
Massie’s dramatic but definitive stance means Johnson needs to work extra hard to obtain the necessary votes to maintain his position as speaker.
The 119th Congress is expected to be sworn-in on Friday and the House will hold a vote to determine the next speaker. Though Johnson is endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump, his position on Ukraine aid funding and recent kerfuffle over a spending bill has made him a few enemies within his own party.
Given Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House, Johnson can only afford to lose one other vote in addition to Massie’s. Dozens of Republicans have yet to endorse Johnson publicly.
Massie said he does not believe Johnson will make a good speaker as he “lacks situational awareness” and does not “inspire the public,” both of which could cause problems for Trump going into his second administration – despite having a Republican-majority Congress.
He’s pointed to Johnson’s record of passing bipartisan legislation that the far-right faction of the House disagrees with, like the Ukraine aid funding bill and legislation that amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Tonight @RepThomasMassie joins @mattgaetz to discuss the upcoming Speaker vote: "I'm a 'Hell No' on Speaker Johnson"
— One America News (@OANN) January 3, 2025
Click the link to watch tonight's show at
9PM ET | 6PM PT https://t.co/Bgm0eOgOZi pic.twitter.com/HBkaKz5Lk4
The Kentucky rep has also criticized the fact that Johnson was only elected to the speakership last year because he was “the least objectionable candidate” in the mix to replace the ousted speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“He was only electable the first time because he hadn’t held any type of leadership position, nor had he ever fought for anything, so no one disliked him and everyone was tired of voting,” Massie wrote on X.
Johnson was elected after 15 rounds of voting last fall.
Though Massie has expressed obvious opposition, Johnson said on Thursday he is confident his party will have the votes to re-elect him as speaker – though it could take multiple rounds of voting, again.
