WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., will remain the Speaker of the House in the new Congress, sworn in Friday, Jan. 3, by Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, the most senior member of the House.
But it was a different Kentucky congressman, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Crescent Springs, who tried and failed to block Johnson from keeping the Speaker’s gavel.
In the end, Massie lived up to his nickname of “Mr. No.”
He was the only Republican to vote for someone else, after two other Republicans who initially voted against Johnson flipped to support the Louisiana Republican, ensuring his narrow victory.
Massie backed Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and in an one-on-one interview ahead of the vote, the Kentucky Republican said there were other, better candidates besides Johnson.
“Speaker Johnson's been against Trump's agenda for the last year,” he said. “I don't believe he's going to turn around on a dime, and even if he could, he's not a very competent Speaker in terms of bringing people on board.”
In an online post before the final vote tally, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, condemned what he called “disunity” and said, “You’re either on the team or you’re not.”
Earlier in the day, Kentucky’s only Democrat in Congress, Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said that the start of a new Congress presents an opportunity.
“The Republicans are in the majority,” he said. “They’ve got all three: the Senate, the House, the presidency. What tone do they want to set? Do they want to say that we’re willing to work with Democrats and move some major pieces of legislation, or do they want to cater to the extreme MAGA members of their party?”
Over in the Senate, for the first time in 18 years, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is no longer the Republican leader. He decided last year to step down from leadership, and Republicans selected Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., to replace him.
While McConnell now sits a few desks down from his long-held post, he vowed last month that he isn’t going anywhere.
“I’ve made it clear this year that our colleagues haven’t seen the last of me,” McConnell told his colleagues. “I still fully intend to keep frustrating my critics in the years ahead.”
McConnell will serve as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and chairman of the Senate Rules Committee.