Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is to date the one Republican who has publicly pledged to oppose President Mike Johnson’s re-election to his management publish.
“You possibly can pull out all my nails; you’ll be able to stick bamboo in it; you can begin chopping off my fingers,” Mr. Massie, an iconoclastic libertarian, mentioned Thursday night. “I cannot vote for Mike Johnson tomorrow.”
However another conservatives are undecided and have met with Mr. Johnson in his Capitol workplace. They expressed frustrations with the spending drama that unfolded late final month and demanded that the speaker decide to institutional adjustments that will forestall GOP leaders from pushing by way of one other large spending invoice. spending invoice to lawmakers.
Amongst these undecided conservatives are Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland, chairman of the far-right Freedom Caucus; Chip Roy of Texas; Victoria Spartaz of Indiana; Andy Biggs of Arizona; and Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
Including to Mr. Johnson’s issues is the truth that many of those lawmakers are thought of wild playing cards throughout the Home Republican Convention. Mr. Massie and Mr. Roy each campaigned for Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida within the 2024 Republican main and have already fended off main threats from President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has supported Mr. Johnson for president.
“Too a lot of my Republican colleagues are appearing out of worry,” Mr. Roy mentioned. said during the election campaign in Iowa. “I worry the Lord. I am not afraid of politics. I’m not afraid of political reprisals. Worst case situation, I find yourself in Texas? My life is fairly good.
Mr. Biggs, the previous chairman of the Freedom Caucus, has lengthy irritated Republican leaders. He opposed Kevin McCarthy’s ascension to the presidency and voted to oust him 10 months later.
Ms. Spartaz is probably essentially the most unpredictable. She regularly protests what she sees because the Home Republican management’s permissive perspective towards authorities spending. She announced at the end of last year that she “wouldn’t serve on committees or take part in caucus till I see that the Republican leaders of Congress are governing.” She had beforehand introduced that she wouldn’t run for workplace, only to reconsider the decision. And in Mr. McCarthy’s election, she first voted for him, solely to vote “current” on plenty of ballots later within the course of.
