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WASHINGTON — Ahead of the holiday recess last month, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Crescent Springs, vowed to vote for someone else besides Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., for House Speaker when the new session of Congress begins on Friday.
“He doesn’t have my vote and I think he’s losing political capital by the second,” Massie said on Dec. 18.
For months, Massie has been an outspoken critic of Johnson, saying the Louisiana Republican isn’t up to the task.
Massie was part of a push last year to oust Johnson as Speaker, in part because of Johnson’s work with Democrats to pass billions in foreign aid.
The effort failed to attract enough support.
In a social media post Monday, President-Elect Donald Trump threw his support behind Johnson.
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized whom he called “contrarian House Republicans,” saying, “I challenge them to explain what their end game is other than noise.”
But Massie has only doubled down on his opposition, saying Johnson “won by being the least objectionable candidate, and he no longer possesses that title.”
It’s not clear who Massie plans to support for speaker in Friday’s vote.
He said last month he had a few people in mind.
A fellow Kentucky Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, also is blasting Johnson, saying it was “pathetic” that the Speaker voted last year against legislation requiring a warrant for foreign surveillance.
