Mike Johnson’s Foreign Aid Plan and Leadership Under Pressure

HHouse Speaker Mike Johnson’s control over his contentious conference appears to be loosening after he revealed a plan to bring separate bills to the House floor that would fund aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan – a move that angered some far-right Republicans.

Johnson’s risky plan prompted a second Republican to call for his resignation on Tuesday. At a weekly conference meeting, Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who opposes funding for Ukraine, said he plans to co-sponsor a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair if Johnson moves forward with the funding request, joining him. thanks to Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. , a Georgia Republican, in calling for Johnson’s removal.

Johnson, with less than six months in office, now faces another big test that promises to shape his term in the future: will he be able to pass foreign aid laws and save his job as speaker of the House at the same time?

“I am not resigning, and in my opinion it is an absurd notion that anyone would bring forward a motion to vacate when we are simply trying to do our jobs,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “We need constant leadership. We need steady hands on the steering wheel… I consider myself a wartime speaker.”

For months, Johnson delayed taking action on the $95 billion national security supplement approved by the Senate two months ago, which would provide military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. But Iran over the weekend launched an airstrike against Israel in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on its consulate in Syria, amplifying calls for Congress to respond quickly. And Ukraine’s military chief warned over the weekend that Russia’s offensive on the eastern front has increased “significantly” in recent days.

“We always knew this would be difficult for an inexperienced speaker,” Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, told TIME. “We don’t have unanimity on many issues and, obviously, the majority are very narrow. But I think Johnson is navigating this exceptionally well. I don’t see anyone emerging as an alternative to him.”

Johnson split the aid packages into separate bills in a bid to address Ukraine funding, a contentious issue at his conference, while also striving to appease concerns from his far-right flank about sending large amounts of uncontrolled aid abroad. But his efforts encountered some obstacles. It lacks the Republican support necessary to ensure passage of the procedural vote, known as a rule, essential for consideration of legislation. And some Republicans were unhappy with the absence of border security measures in their plan, even though for months the party had prioritized border security discussions.

“Sometimes when you add things to your cart, you push them to the other side,” Cole says of his colleagues who want to add border security measures to their accounts. “Leadership needs to make this calculation.”

The four separate bills, which have not yet been presented to members, are expected to reflect the $95 billion Senate package that Johnson left aside — providing money for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and other allies. A fourth vote is planned on a separate measure that includes a proposal to use seized Russian assets to help pay for aid to Kiev and force the sale or ban of TikTok in the US. After all four bills are voted on, Johnson plans to combine them. which are approved in a single package for the Senate.

“Israel funding must not be held hostage to Ukraine funding,” wrote Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, on X. “I supported the plans that President Johnson announced at the conference to allow the House to vote on the various packages help separately. But your announced intention to merge them before sending them to the Senate is wrong.”

The prospect of Johnson’s ouster, should Greene and Massie proceed, threatens to exacerbate existing divisions within the fractured conference after House Republicans ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year.

Cole says most Republicans don’t want to revisit the “two or three months of chaos” after McCarthy was forced from office. “There’s not a lot of desire to do this again,” he says, emphasizing that he doesn’t believe a motion to remove Johnson will succeed. “I would prefer people not to make these threats, but to be fair to them, they are operating under the rule as it exists, so they have the right to do so.”

After Friday, when another Republican is expected to resign, Johnson can only lose one Republican vote on foreign aid bills and a motion to vacate — suggesting Democrats could be instrumental in saving the House speaker’s job. Rep. Pete Aguilar, chairman of the California Democratic Caucus, said Tuesday that Democrats don’t want to “sink” any plans that “deliver aid to our allies.”

White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday that the Biden administration does not support a standalone bill. “We do not support a standalone bill that only funds Israel because Ukraine also needs munitions,” Kirby said. But he acknowledged that the White House would be open to seeing what Johnson might do in its chamber. “We will wait and judge after we have had an opportunity to take a closer look at the Speaker’s proposal,” Kirby continued. “The important thing is that our allies like Israel and Ukraine, who are under the gun, literally under the gun, get the security assistance they need as quickly as possible. So we want them to move in this week.”