Speaker Mike Johnson Vows He Won't Resign As Threat To His Gavel Grows

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), facing renewed threats to his leadership, said that he will not step down and that he sees himself as a “wartime speaker.”

Johnson’s remarks came as House Republicans were trying to put together a plan to vote on four high-priority items — aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and a catch-all bill of other national security-related provisions — without fracturing the party further.

Opponents of a measure to replenish the U.S.′ own weapons stocks, and thus allow more unused weapons in storage to be sent to Ukraine’s military, have threatened to oust Johnson.

“I am not resigning and it is in my view an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion. We are here simply here trying to do our jobs,” Johnson said at a press conference following a Tuesday morning House GOP meeting.

The threat to Johnson’s hold on the speaker’s gavel grew on Tuesday when Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a far-right libertarian House Republican, said on social mediahe would support an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to vote to toss Johnson.

“He should pre-announce his resignation (as [former GOP Speaker John] Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker,” Massie wrote.

Massie posted that Johnson said at the closed-door meeting he would not resign. “I said to him that he is the only one who can prevent us from going through what happened last fall,” Massie said, referring to the three weeks the House was unable to consider any bills as Republicans struggled to find a new leader, after then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy was booted from the post.

Dissatisfaction with Johnson’s leadership has grown since he replaced McCarthy. At the top of the list of things his