Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as part of his annual “Festivus” airing of grievances on social media says that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will be ousted from the top House GOP leadership job before springtime.
“I want to be the first to congratulate former @SpeakerJohnson, who will be gone before DC gets warm again,” Paul posted on X in his thread of roasts which he posts every year to skewer Washington, D.C.’s power players.
Paul last week called for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to replace Johnson as Speaker, noting that by rule the Speaker does not need to be a member of the House.
“Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk… think about it… nothing’s impossible. Not to mention the joy at seeing the collective establishment, aka ‘uniparty,’ lose their ever-lovin’ minds),” Paul posted on X last week.
Paul posted his prediction that Johnson would not be long for his job to mark “Festivus,” the make-believe holiday invented by the character Frank Costanza on the ‘90s hit TV show “Seinfeld.”
Paul over the past decade has embraced Festivus’s “airing of grievances” to vent his frustrations with the political establishment.
The Kentucky senator describes his jabs as a “playful” and “sometimes not so playful … roasting of the ruling class in Washington, DC.”
One House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), has already said he won’t vote for Johnson to serve another term as Speaker because of how he handled the negotiations with Democrats over funding the government.
Other GOP lawmakers warn that Johnson’s re-election as Speaker could be a close call given lingering resentment over last week’s battle over a continuing resolution.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said last week that the discussion about replacing Johnson is “the most I’ve ever heard.”
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) told reporters last week that Johnson needs to “communicate better” with members of his conference.
House conservatives were infuriated last week by the 1,547-page bill that Johnson and other congressional leaders unveiled a few days before a government funding deadline.
The measure was later slimmed down to 116 pages and passed by large margins in both chambers.
