The House of Representatives will vote on Speaker of the House, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R) is hoping to be reelected. However, despite receiving an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump (R), Republicans are not thrilled about the speaker’s leadership thus far. Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) has shared that he is undecided on Speaker Johnson, suggesting that he could end up voting to reelect him.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie (R) commented on the speaker’s reelection bid, claiming that it was like Democrats defending President Joe Biden’s (D) cognitive ability during the 2024 election.
For months Democrats ignored the fact that Joe Biden was a potato.
They convinced themselves that keeping him around was the pragmatic way to win the day. Too late did they admit the emperor had no clothes.
Republicans are doing the same thing by keeping Speaker Mike Johnson.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 30, 2024
On social media, Rep. Massie wrote that “for months Democrats ignored the fact that Joe Biden was a potato.”
“They convinced themselves that keeping him around was the pragmatic way to win the day,” he wrote, adding that “too late did they admit the emperor had no clothes.”
“Republicans are doing the same thing by keeping Speaker Mike Johnson,” the Kentucky Republican warned.
Rep. Roy, who found himself at odds with President-elect Trump on the proposed CR bills to keep the government’s lights on, again finds himself opposing the president-elect. However, though he does side with Rep. Massie on Speaker Johnson, Rep. Roy is less critical of the speaker’s time in leadership.
Key distinction: @RepThomasMassie will not be voting for Hakeem Jefferies, as opposed to GOP who voted with Dems (more Dems than GOP each time) to spend some $3 trillion & give $61bb to Ukraine with no border security. The reason I am still undecided on the Speaker vote (as… https://t.co/u5KSFgGVbb
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) January 1, 2025
“The reason I am still undecided on the Speaker vote (as opposed to hard no) is it’s not ALL the fault of @SpeakerJohnson & my desire is to give him grace & @realDonaldTrump room to deliver on a strong agenda for which we were elected,” the Texas Republican wrote on X.
“We cannot allow what happened right before Christmas, where a 1500+ page bill was attempted to be jammed through over our objections (rightfully criticized by @elonmusk & @VivekGRamaswamy) and the GOP was more divided on a last minute cram-down to force approval to borrow $5 trillion MORE with a plan for – much less an actual penny of – spending cuts,” he added.
The House cannot conduct any business until it elects a Speaker, so the jury is still out if Speaker Johnson might face a contest the likes that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) faced.
