Hugh Hewitt Asks Mike Johnson if He’ll Drop Key MTG-Ally from Committee to Help Control ‘Unwieldy Caucus’
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) point blank whether he is planning on dropping Republicans in his caucus from committee assignments to help control his “unwieldy caucus.”
The House recently passed a foreign aid package for Ukraine after weeks of in-fighting and pushback, which included Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introducing a motion to vacate, and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) announcing his support for it.
Johnson spoke with Hewitt on Wednesday and Hewitt asked the Republican leader if there was a plan to make his life “easier” by shuffling the Rules Committee. Hewitt called committee member Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) a “thorn” in Johnson’s side. He also referred to Massie as his “least favorite” congressman.
“You have an unwieldy caucus, and everybody knows that,” Hewitt told Johnson.
He then asked about potential “changes” to the Rules Committee.
“You’ve got Representative Norman, who’s always a thorn in your side, Tom Massie, who is my least favorite Congressman, along with a couple more. Are you going to make some changes on Rules Committee? I like Chip Roy. I’m glad he’s on there. But are you going to make some changes on the Rules Committee to make your life easier?” Hewitt asked.
Johnson said he has no plans on removing people from committees, calling his slim majority a “delicate balance.”
“It’s a very delicate balance. If I start kicking people off committees right now, it’s likely that I cause more problems than I solve. And so what I’m trying to do every day is manage this team,” he said.
Johnson further defended the in-fighting within his caucus, claiming Republican lawmakers are fighting more than Democrats because they are “rugged individualists.” He called Democrats “collectivists,” many of whom are “not deeply principled or philosophical folks.”
“The Democrats think and act like a union. They’re collectivists,” he said. “You know, they move in a herd. Many of them are not deeply principled or philosophical folks, anyway, and so you can command them, and they’ll move as social animals. They’re socialists, right? We, on the other hand, are rugged individualists, and we’re deeply principled and philosophical. And it’s difficult to get us to move in tandem sometimes.”
Check Johnson’s entire interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show here.
