Thomas Massie laments McCarthy ouster after failed Israel, impeachment votes

After House Republicans failed to approve a standalone Israel aid bill and the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday evening, at least one House Republican has concluded that ousting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was a mistake.

A group of eight House Republicans led the charge to remove McCarthy in October and he later resigned from Congress altogether at the end of the year. Republicans subsequently elevated House Speaker Mike Johnson after intense internal debate.

"Getting rid of Speaker McCarthy has officially turned into an unmitigated disaster. All work on separate spending bills has ceased," wrote Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie on X. "Spending reductions have been traded for spending increases. Warrantless spying has been temporarily extended. Our majority has shrunk."

The House in January approved a temporary spending bill to push the deadlines for the chamber to approve a full budget into March. The measure split the deadlines for the different appropriations bills between March 1 and 8. Should Congress fail to approve new spending measures in that timeframe, the government could face a shutdown.

Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to remove McCarthy, defended the move in a response to Massie.

"McCarthy lied to us, made secret side deals, increased spending, got rolled by Biden and shrunk our majority by quitting when he couldn’t run the place. His removal was warranted," he said.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.