This article has been updated to include posts on the possibility of Donald Trump attending a closed House Republican meeting on Tuesday to discuss candidates for Speaker of the House.
The hunt is on to find a Speaker of the House after Kevin McCarthy's ouster took place on Tuesday night. Because the speaker does not have to be a member of Congress, Donald Trump's name has been floated. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) posted on Tuesday night that he will nominate the former president with McCarthy indicating he won't run again. Acting Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has indicated the vote will take place next Wednesday.
Kevin McCarthy will NOT be running again as Speaker.
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) October 3, 2023
I nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who spoke on the floor during debate in support of McCarthy, made it clear that he won't support Trump, though. In a post from Thursday morning, Massie pointed to Trump being "vehemently opposed to even having a recorded vote in the House on the $2+ trillion CARES Act," the COVID relief stimulus.
"He supported Pelosi’s attempt to pass it by 'unanimous consent,' without a quorum present," Massie also charged, which he said "disqualifies [Trump] from being Speaker."
Trump was vehemently opposed to even having a recorded vote in the House on the $2+ trillion CARES Act. He supported Pelosi’s attempt to pass it by “unanimous consent,” without a quorum present. This disqualifies him from being Speaker.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 5, 2023
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Massie had raised serious concerns with the CARES Act in March 2020 and threatened to demand a roll call vote. As Townhall covered at the time, though, "Massie was blocked after [then House Majority Leader] Steny Hoyer demonstrated that they had a quorum to pass the bill."
Then President Trump posted to his X account, then called Twitter, opposing Massie's plan and referring to him as a "a third rate Grandstander," while also saying they should "throw Massie out of Republican Party!"
...& costly. Workers & small businesses need money now in order to survive. Virus wasn’t their fault. It is “HELL” dealing with the Dems, had to give up some stupid things in order to get the “big picture” done. 90% GREAT! WIN BACK HOUSE, but throw Massie out of Republican Party!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
While speaking on the House floor on Tuesday to support McCarthy, Massie once again raised concerns with the CARES Act. "So the 12 [appropriations] bills were delayed over, what? $100 billion? That's a lot of money! But it's nothing compared to the $2 trillion that I came here to object to when Speaker Pelosi and President Trump pushed that bill through," he declared to applause.
While the bill had near unanimous support, there were nevertheless concerns brought up not just by Massie, but by John Stossel in a column of his published for Townhall not long after the vote, "Bankrupting America." While Stossel pointed out that the bill passed 96-0 in the Senate, he lamented how "[t]he House didn't even bother with a formal vote."
Stossel also expressed concerns that "our debt will grow even faster."
"This will not end well," he went on to write.
Massie, as Leah highlighged following the first RNC debate in Milwaukee, called out former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for raising issues about Republican support for spending increases as she brought up the stimulus, though she failed to support Massie at the time.
Yeah, I don’t remember Nikki Haley supporting me when I was the ONLY member of congress actively opposing the CARES Act. https://t.co/5yP04lrz51
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) August 24, 2023
Massie's refusal to support Trump for speaker is not only not surprising given Trump's insults for him at the time, but because he has also expressed support for House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) as speaker, even before Jordan made his run official, which he did on Wednesday after speculation increased on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Since Jordan made it official, Massie has since doubled down on that support, also posting the results of a poll he conducted over X showing more support for Jordan over House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
Results of yesterday’s Speaker poll. 36,000 votes. It’s an internal decision, but hopefully our conference selection will represent the will of the people. pic.twitter.com/NHBDxkrASE
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 5, 2023
Fox News' Chad Pergram has also posted that Trump is "expected to attend" the Tuesday meeting where House Republicans will discuss candidate selection.
From colleague Brooke Singman. Trump expected to attend GOP mtg on Tuesday for closed candidate forum for House Speaker
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 5, 2023
2) There will be centrist GOPers who will HOWL about this and say this is another example of the chaos.. even though some hard right Members want Trump to come.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 5, 2023
3) Regardless, whether or not the former President comes, his name..or anyone else’s name.. could be placed in nomination on the floor. Even if they don’t want it.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 5, 2023
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