Mike Johnson critic taken off powerful Rules Committee

• He has been replaced with Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), a low-key member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus who rarely joins his colleagues' rebellions against leadership.
• Johnson often had to bypass the panel last Congress and rely on Democratic votes to pass key legislation.
• Massie, a hardline conservative libertarian, said after voting against Johnson on Jan. 3 that he would step off the panel voluntarily.

Driving the news: The House Republican conference voted in a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning to approve a new committee roster that excludes Massie.

• Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the former chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, was picked as the new chair of the panel, replacing retired Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas).
• Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), the House GOP's chief deputy whip, was also taken off the panel and replaced with freshman Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.).

Between the lines: Massie and Freedom Caucus members Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) were appointed in 2023 as part of a deal with then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to obtain his gavel.

• In multiple instances, the trio sided with Democrats to block legislation from coming to the House floor in protest of McCarthy's and Johnson's moves on government spending or foreign aid.

What they're saying: Griffith told Axios he is a "rules guy" and that "if the rules are set up in accordance with the House rules, precedent and Jefferson's manual, then I don't look at the policy, I look at the rules."

• "Step out of line of the general policy of parliamentary history in this country and elsewhere, then I might have a question or two to raise," he said.
• Massie, Griffith said, was "pretty much a rules guy too."