Freedom Caucus chair who ousted McCarthy distances himself from push to boot Johnson

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., is distancing himself from two GOP rebels’ threats to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., from power.

Good told reporters on Thursday that the “appropriate” time to pick a new leader for the House GOP would be in November. Traditionally, the closed-door election to pick a new party leader takes place sometime that month following an election.

The Virginia Republican was one of eight House GOP lawmakers who voted with Democrats to oust Johnson’s predecessor, ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in October 2023.

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“I think there’s a lot of dissatisfaction within the Republican Party. I think the speaker guarantees himself that there will be a contest for the speaker, I hope, in November. I think that’s the wise course when you’re sitting at a 216 to 213 margin,” Good said.

Good has been among the most vocal critics of Johnson’s leadership, particularly when the speaker has had to reach across the aisle to pass critical legislation. But his wariness of embracing calls for Johnson’s ouster shows the overall wariness of members of Johnson’s right flank to undergo the same three weeks of chaos they did last year.

When asked to clarify whether he would not support if his fellow Republicans triggered a vote for Johnson’s ouster – known as a motion to vacate – Good said, “I only know of members who have said they support a motion to vacate. I certainly have not said that.”

“I think the appropriate time to have that contest would be in November,” he said. 

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He reasoned that House Republicans are dealing with a slimmer majority than in October when GOP rebels ousted McCarthy, and that there were longstanding issues some members had with the former speaker and his leadership, compared to Johnson’s relative newcomer status.

It comes after Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., threatened to trigger a vote for Johnson’s ouster over his foreign aid plan earlier this week if he did not willingly step aside. He’s now co-sponsoring an earlier motion to vacate resolution filed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a fierce critic of Johnson’s leadership.

Good, who does not have a close relationship with Greene since her ouster from the Freedom Caucus and her criticism of the Republicans who forced out McCarthy, would not say whether he thought Greene’s attack against Johnson was misguided. 

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“I’ll just point out that the…two members who signed on to that are members who were very critical of holding the previous speaker accountable,” Good said. “And so I think it’s a conversation for them on what’s different today, versus the actions that they were critical of a year ago.”

He continued, “I would point out that the margin is so much more narrow that when they were saying a year ago that, ‘Oh, they might elected Democrat speaker,’ that was just dishonesty…It’s a much more precarious position to pursue that now.” 

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Meanwhile, Johnson put out a statement Thursday afternoon saying he had no intention of supporting efforts to change the motion to vacate rule.

“Since the beginning of the 118th Congress, the House rule allowing a Motion to Vacate from a single member has harmed this office and our House majority,” he said. “Recently, many members have encouraged me to endorse a new rule to raise this threshold. While I understand the importance of that idea, any rule change requires a majority of the full House, which we do not have.

“We will continue to govern under the existing rules.”

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