Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the most constitutionally obedient members of Congress, will not serve on the House Rules Committee this coming Congress.
The House Rules Committee sets the rules that determine which bills advance to the full House. It also affects amendments included in proposals before they are considered in the House. The Speaker controls the membership of the committee, with the majority party holding nine of the 13 seats.
Despite disappointing many others with House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-Louisiana) poor performance since taking the gavel a year ago, Massey said in January He was the only Republican to vote against the House speaker's reelection.
When the news broke, many people's first reaction was that Johnson was getting revenge on Massey for not supporting him. But Massey said that's not the case, pointing out in a tweet on Tuesday that this was not retaliation. If the speaker wanted someone else, he would have volunteered to step aside, and Mr. Johnson took it.
House Republicans on the House Rules Committee voted Tuesday morning to replace Massey with Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia.
Massy's history
Massey has served in the House since 2012 and was appointed to the committee in 2023 as part of a deal with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to take the gavel. Massey has opposed Prime Minister Johnson's support for aid to Ukraine, his support for a government surveillance bill that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on Americans without a warrant, and his support for a massive spending bill that is more than 1,500 pages packed with pork.
He received a nearly perfect score of 99 on the New American Freedom Index, a measure of how well members of Congress adhere to the U.S. Constitution. As the Freedom Index clearly shows, all members of Congress swear allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, but few abide by it.
Mr. Griffiths is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and “rarely participates in his colleagues' revolts against their leaders,” Axios said. His Freedom Index score is 77. Unlike Massey, he is all for sending money to Ukraine. And he voted in favor of a more than 1,500-page spending bill that was defeated and a later, shorter bill that passed without the support of 34 Republicans, including Massey.
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