The House could soon pass Ukraine aid — along with a TikTok bill — in a new package that’s raised GOP ire.
House Speaker Mike Johnson could be facing the most perilous threat to his leadership yet as Congress votes on a Ukraine aid package this weekend.
Johnson has staunchly backed the decision to send more aid to Ukraine and endorsed a floor vote on the funding, which will take place on Saturday. That stance has infuriated far-right members like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has vocally opposed the provision of such funds. Greene’s dissent over Ukraine — along with conservative members’ dismay over bipartisan government funding deals — has prompted her to issue an open threat to Johnson’s job.
“Mike Johnson is not working for Republicans, he’s not helping Republicans, he’s not even listening to Republicans. Mike Johnson is doing the Deep State’s dirty work,” Greene said in an X statement earlier this month. “We need a new Speaker of the House!”
Mike Johnson is not working for Republicans, he’s not helping Republicans, he’s not even listening to Republicans.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) April 2, 2024
Mike Johnson is doing the Deep State’s dirty work.
We need a new Speaker of the House!
Watch my full segment on Steve Bannon’s War Room. pic.twitter.com/q5ac2OfIGg
Johnson’s fate isn’t sealed just yet: Greene hasn’t indicated whether she’ll trigger her motion to remove him. And just two other Republican members — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) — have backed her so far.
Other House Republicans appear wary of sparking a second battle over the speakership after last year’s left the House at a standstill. Plus, Johnson still has former President Donald Trump’s approval, which could help provide some insulation. Even if Greene attempts to depose him, some Democrats have suggested they’d step in to save him.
Still, the fact that the threat is hanging over these proceedings underscores the competing pressures Johnson is fielding, ongoing GOP fracturing, and the dysfunction that’s plagued Republicans’ tenure in the majority.
In practice, that’s meant they haven’t been able to get much done, even compared to prior Congresses with similar party breakdowns — leaving them with few achievements as they attempt to retain their hold on the House in November’s elections. It’s also meant that Ukraine aid, which could have a major impact on the country’s defenses against Russia, has been hanging in the balance.
The far right is furious about Ukraine aid
The new aid package includes roughly $60 billion for Ukraine, $26.5 billion for Israel, and $8.1 billion for countries in the Indo-Pacific. It also contains legislation some Republicans have supported related to Ukraine, including a bill that would allow the US to transfer Russian assets it’s seized. And it includes a bill that would ban TikTok if its China-based parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell it.
Though the package has garnered significant Republican pushback, it’s expected to pass the House with significant Democratic support. The Senate is then likely to approve it and send it to Biden, who has said he’ll sign it.
Johnson has stood by the decision to advance Ukraine aid despite the outcry he’s faced from his right flank. In remarks this week, he emphasized that such support is needed to hold off Russia’s advances and to prevent that country from attempting further attacks in other parts of Europe.
“This is a critical time right now, a critical time on the world stage. I could make a selfish decision and do something that’s different. But I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing,” Johnson said at a press conference. “I think that Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed. I think he might go to the Balkans next. I think he might have a showdown with Poland, or one of our NATO allies.
His position has spurred a renewed wave of anger from far-right members, who’ve called for funds to be used domestically, at the southern border, instead. That opposition echoes isolationist stances held by former President Donald Trump, who’s similarly cautioned against more Ukraine funding given the national debt and an “America First” mentality. As of mid-January, the US has provided roughly $74 billion to Ukraine in security assistance, weapons, and humanitarian support.
Republican pushback to such aid has only grown in the past few months: In May 2022, 57 House Republicans voted against an aid package for Ukraine. In September 2023, 117 did the same. “It’s absurd that overnighting more tax dollars to Ukraine is even a consideration. It should be totally off the table and replaced with a push for peace talks,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) told Fox News in April.
Johnson has acknowledged these concerns and will hold individual House votes this weekend on both aid to Ukraine and aid to Israel in order to allow GOP members to express their opposition. Some changes to the Ukraine aid bill, including the decision to make $9 billion of the funds forgivable loans, were also made in response to Republican gripes.
Despite these concessions, certain members on the right still aren’t pleased. “We need a speaker who puts America first rather than bending to the reckless demands of the warmongers, neocons and the military industrial complex making billions from a costly and endless war half a world away,” said Gosar in a statement regarding his reasons for a supporting a motion to vacate against Johnson.
Their views aren’t indicative of the entire conference, however. Multiple centrist Republican leaders have stressed the importance of backing Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues into its third year. “I am hopeful that the speaker will put the bill on the floor … so that we can once and for all ensure that our allies have the aid and support that they need,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said in a CNN interview.
Conservative dysfunction has real consequences
The conflict over Ukraine aid and threats about Johnson’s leadership are just the latest chapter in Republican drama this term.
Internal clashes — like the one that cost Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, his job — have impeded their ability to make progress on their priorities and Congress’s ability to govern. When they took power after the 2022 midterms, House Republicans had big plans on everything from bringing state-level battles over schools to the national stage to lowering the cost of prescription drugs. They made virtually no progress on any of those goals. And when it comes to must-pass legislation, far-right pushback on the debt ceiling, for example, pushed lawmakers down to the wire to get it done, rattling markets and leading to a downgrade of the country’s credit rating.
In the case of Ukraine aid, Republican infighting has already delayed funds, a hold-up that’s contributed to supply shortages and potential losses on the battlefield. The delay of and uncertainty about this aid has also made it tougher for the US to coordinate with its allies when it comes to a cohesive strategy to support Ukraine, writes Dan Baer, a senior vice president of policy research at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
If Congress were unable to provide more aid, that could have even more serious consequences for the war, emboldening Russia and hurting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. According to Max Boot, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Ukraine could face shortages of ammunition if US aid were to stall, likely increasing the casualties it experiences. And in the long term, the absence of this aid could have a decisive impact on its ability to fend off Russia completely.
“Make no mistake: without US aid, Ukraine is likely to lose the war,” Boot writes.
Update, April 19, 3:45 pm ET: This story was originally published on April 9 and has been updated to include information about a House floor vote.
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