Another conservative has joined the list of Republicans vying to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson over his decision to push Ukraine aid at the expense of securing the southern border.
Arizona’s Paul Gosar on Friday said he’s all in with fellow Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky in their crusade to boot Mr. Johnson.
The lawmaker cited the speaker’s decision to barrel ahead with a $60 billion Ukraine aid bill that doesn’t include border security provisions as his main reason for co-sponsoring Ms. Greene’s motion to vacate the chair.
“I have added my name in support of the motion to vacate the speaker. Our border cannot be an afterthought,” Mr. Gosar said. “We need a speaker who puts America first rather than bending to the reckless demands of the warmongers, neocons and the military-industrial complex making billions from a costly and endless war half a world away.”
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, has faced intense scrutiny from conservatives for his $95 billion foreign aid package, which roughly mirrors the Senate’s foreign spending bundle that the speaker had rebuked.
Mr. Johnson was willing to risk his job over the package, which passed a procedural hurdle on the House floor Friday with the aid of Democrats.
The three conservatives haven’t put a hard date on when they might trigger the motion to vacate.
Mr. Massie said the preferable outcome would be for Mr. Johnson to resign, but the speaker has refused.
“He is not going to finish his term, OK? He’s losing,” Mr. Massie said. “He’s hemorrhaging political capital. He’s overdrafted. He’s underwater. And the best thing for him to do right now is resign.”
Most Republicans are either against the move or contend it’s the wrong time to remove the speaker ahead of November’s elections. Among those who don’t want to oust Mr. Johnson are the eight Republicans who booted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Rep. Bob Good, Virginia Republican, said he can’t defend Mr. Johnson’s decision to plow ahead with Ukraine aid, but removing him wouldn’t be the “most prudent action.”
“We had a fight, we had a process to try to select the speaker, there were multiple candidates, we ended up selecting a candidate who has failed us,” Mr. Good said. “So that doesn’t mean that now you should take the same actions that you took in September when you are in a different situation.”
Despite Mr. Johnson having most Republicans on his side, the nature of the GOP’s paper-thin majority means three Republican defectors would be more than enough to remove him. That’s where Democrats could come in to save him.
Mr. Massie speculated that if Democrats did save the speaker, the coalition-style government wouldn’t be sustainable for Mr. Johnson.
“How do you go out and raise money and invigorate the base when you’re like a corpse propped up by Democrats?” he said.
Democrats have given some hurdles for Mr. Johnson to leap that could curry their favor and save his job. One is allowing Ukraine aid to reach the House floor for a vote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, said no decision has been made on whether to bail out Mr. Johnson if his party’s help is needed, but passing the speaker’s foreign aid package could help.
“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie and Gosar are all quite a group,” Mr. Jeffries said. “And I’m sure that will play some roles in our conversation, but central to the conversation — the prerequisite to the conversation — is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”
