Speaker Johnson says Massie was a ‘thorn in my side for a long time’

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) celebrated Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) defeat in the Kentucky GOP primary, calling the fellow GOP lawmaker a “thorn in my side for a long time.”

“I have nothing personal against Thomas Massie, but he votes with the Democrats a lot of the time and has been a thorn in my side for a long time,” Johnson said in an interview with Salem News Channel that aired Wednesday. “We need team players.”

Massie, who has served in Congress since 2012, has been an irritant to President Trump and House GOP leaders, causing him to be an outlier in his party. He was one of only two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s signature tax and spending package titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” which he called a “debt bomb ticking,” and supported a war powers resolution to prevent Trump........

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