Freedom Caucus chair downplays Johnson ouster

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, in a Tuesday interview, downplayed the likelihood that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) would ultimately face an effort by his conference to oust him as speaker.

In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill” on Tuesday, Good said he was committed to working on passing urgent legislation this week and has only heard two members — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — discussing Johnson’s ouster.

“Well, I’ve only heard two members speaking to that effect, and you know who the two of those are,” Good said when asked whether Massie was right to say Johnson should resign. “I’m focused on trying to get the best outcome this week.”

Massie, on Tuesday, joined Greene as the second Republican to say he would support a motion to oust Johnson if it came to the floor for a vote. Greene has already introduced a motion to remove Johnson from power but has not forced an immediate vote on the matter — a threat looming over any potential votes on Ukraine funding.

Johnson this week outlined a multipronged strategy to provide military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, accompanied by a grab-all package of Republican national security priorities designed to appease wary conservatives within the House GOP. He’s vowing that all four components will get separate votes before the week is out.

In the interview, Good did not say how he would vote on a potential motion to vacate, if it came to the House floor for a vote. He said he had a “productive” meeting with Johnson earlier on Tuesday and said he was committed to passing legislation – even though Good remains critical of certain aspects of Johnson’s aid plan, namely that it omits any provisions on border security.

Good would also not say whether he had a red line for Johnson that would ultimately lead him to vote on a motion to vacate, should it come to the floor for a vote.

Good noted that, before voting to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), he never publicly said he had a red line and would similarly not say so now when asked about a hypothetical ouster effort against Johnson.

“I never said that a year ago with the previous speaker, and I don’t say that now,” Good said about having a red line. “I’m not cavalier about it. I’m not threatening about it. I’m not flippant about it. I’m not you know, trying to discuss that openly in public.

“I didn’t before, but obviously, I had reached a line when someone else filed the motion to vacate. I had no reason to defend [McCarthy],” he said.

“I’m not initiating a motion to vacate. I think we ought to do the best that we can for the American people between now and November. And then after November, we’ll have a contest for leadership in the new Congress,” he continued.

Good also said he thought Democrats were “bluffing” and would not ultimately save Johnson — if his job safety was dependent on allowing Ukraine aid to pass — but that that would be a problem with him.

“I think they’re bluffing because I think they would rather see the Republican Party in some kind of disarray. I don’t believe Democrats will do it, but let’s just say they did do it,” Good said, “I don’t think that is sustainable for the speaker. We have told him that. We don’t think that’s a path forward for him. We don’t think it’s good for him or the Republican Party, so we don’t recommend that he succeeds based on Democrat votes. We want him to do what Republicans want to do so that we can all unite behind him and support him.”

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.