Johnson bets on aid to Ukraine in the face of threat of impeachment

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is diving into a massive foreign aid package that has divided his conference and threatened his gavel, alienating his detractors in a risky effort to help beleaguered allies abroad.

Johnson won Democratic support early on for his multipronged strategy of providing military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, accompanied by a sweeping package of Republican national security priorities designed to appease wary conservatives within the Republican Party. He is promising that all four components will receive separate votes before the end of the week.

But the plan drew an immediate reaction from hardliners at his conference, including spending hawks who don’t want to rack up billions more in the national debt; isolationists who want to focus Washington’s resources on domestic problems; and a broad spectrum of rank-and-file Republicans who demanded that legislation include tighter security at the U.S. southern border — a notable exclusion from the House Speaker’s policy plan.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a frequent critic of the House speaker, has already introduced a motion to remove him from power — a resolution that is hanging over the upcoming votes in Ukraine, waiting for Greene to force it. it to the floor. And that threat became more ominous on Tuesday when Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican with a libertarian bent, announced that he would support Johnson’s impeachment if Greene’s resolution were activated.

“Mike Johnson is going for the Triple Crown here against our base,” Massie said. “He voted for a bus that spends more than [Nancy] Pelosi. He put his finger on the scale to pass [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] without warrants. And now he is about to do Ukraine without securing the American border.

“These are like three attacks.”

The increased threat has drawn attention to Johnson’s precarious control over the Republican Party, where various ideological factions have been at war throughout the 118th Congress. Rebel conservatives have already ousted a House speaker for defying his demands, and a slim majority gives GOP leaders little room for error.

Still, Johnson received a big boost last week when he appeared alongside former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residential resort, where the presumptive presidential nominee hailed the House speaker for “doing a very good job ”.

And Johnson himself rejected the expulsion effort, calling it “absurd” and “pointless.”

“I’m not worried about that. I’m going to do my job and I think that’s what the American people expect of us,” he said.

Despite all the rumors, he may have little to fear – at least in the short term.

Massie emphasized that he has no plans to force a motion to vacate the resolution himself. And Greene, who had previously suggested that floor action on Ukraine would lead her to force such a vote, appeared to soften her tone this week.

While publicly denouncing Johnson for breaking his promises, especially at the border, Greene also emphasized that she is treading carefully in considering whether to force her impeachment resolution to the floor — a decision that has been complicated by Trump’s glowing assessment of the House speaker. .

“We are discussing this. We’ll see what happens. But I think a motion to vacate is extremely serious, so I’m trying to be very responsible with it,” Greene said.

The hesitation gave Johnson some breathing room as he tries to introduce foreign aid bills to the House this week. And it’s getting early help from Democrats, who appear ready to embrace the four-vote strategy — as long as the policy arrangements don’t stray too far from the Senate’s $95 billion aid package, which combined aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with humanitarian aid. assistance to Gaza and other global hotspots.

“If you just cut them all out, I think it will all go away — as long as they don’t put any poison pills in it,” said Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.).

“If it frees us, that’s a good thing,” echoed Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.).

The Republican Party’s reaction to the foreign aid plan was multifaceted — and more complicated. On the one hand, Conservatives praise Johnson’s decision to undertake an amendment process and separate priorities into four bills, which will give them the opportunity to support proposals they like and oppose those they don’t.

But at the same time, hardliners have criticized the exclusion of border security and the inclusion of a provision that would combine the four measures into a single package before it is sent to the Senate — a pair of negatives that are poised to outweigh the positives. . .

Fueling conservative frustrations, Johnson is also not allowing any border-related changes.

“I’m fine with putting individual matters down normally. But when everything is predetermined and will leave the border aside, then you have given up the whole point of the fight. Which, I reminded the Speaker of the House – and this is public information – several times over the last six months, where he said border first before Ukraine,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told reporters on Tuesday. fair.

“He’s not going to allow border security to be part of the package,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chairman of the Freedom Caucus. “That’s a big, big problem.”

Despite growing frustration, no other Republicans have come out of the woodwork to join Greene and Massie in the motion to vacate, although several are keeping their cards close to their chest.

Asked about the impeachment effort, Roy told reporters he was “not going to talk about it.” And Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), former chairman of the Freedom Caucus, didn’t rule out that possibility, saying “we’re not even close to that” when pressed on the strategy.

Meanwhile, a large number of Republicans spoke out against the overthrow effort. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called the initiative “a complete waste of time and an absolutely ridiculous concept,” and Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) predicted the strategy would fail .

Massie, for his part, said he believes the effort to expel Johnson will garner more support than the impeachment of McCarthy, which was attended by eight Republicans and all Democrats.

“If he were called today … he would lose the vote and I think he would lose more than Kevin McCarthy lost,” the Kentucky Republican said Tuesday.

“It’s not just the right flank of the conference that is upset with him – we have evolved into ‘Lord of the Flies,’” he added. “There is no order. Like, the rules are falling. Like, there are no repercussions for disorder.

“I don’t think your life experiences have prepared you for this job.”

Miranda Nazzaro contributed.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story