Johnson Turns to Democrats on Ukraine Aid Amid Impeachment Threat

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will lean heavily on Democrats to pass a series of bills in the coming days that provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and other Democratic allies abroad — a strategy that recognizes the nuances of governing in a divided Washington, but also increases the risk of his removal by disgruntled conservatives.

By rejecting a foreign aid bill passed by the Senate and favored by Democrats, the House speaker sought to appease his hard-line GOP critics and put a more conservative stamp on the controversial foreign aid.. Simultaneously, he is proposing a border security bill, also aimed at getting conservatives on board, that is about to reach the Senate.

But this alternative, multifaceted strategy to move nearly $100 billion in foreign aid has only aggravated his restless right flank, highlighted his tenuous control over the conference he leads, and unleashed a new threat to his gavel when Rep. Thomas Massie ( R-Ky.) announced he is ready to oust the Speaker of the House from his leadership position.

The backlash means the success of the legislation depends on Democratic votes — not just on the final bills when they reach the floor, but on the procedural resolutions that will get them there.

That dynamic became clear on Wednesday, when Rep. Ralph Norman (R.S.C.) announced that he and Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) — the three most hardline members of the House Rules Committee – would oppose the rule of sending Johnson’s bills to the House floor.

Roy told reporters that “it certainly seems likely at this point” that Democrats will need to help pass the rule out of committee.

“I just fundamentally and vehemently disagree with where the speaker of the House has landed,” he said.

Despite the harsh criticism, Johnson won the coveted endorsement of a prominent Republican last week — former President Trump — who said the House speaker is “doing a very good job.” The vote of confidence complicated the path forward for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who is leading the impeachment effort — the one endorsed by Massie — but said she would not force him to vote before foreign aid is voted on . this weekend.

“I’m not going to close this issue before the bill comes to the floor because I think this bill will definitely tell a lot of people exactly what I’ve been saying,” Greene told reporters.

Johnson rejected the threat, saying he is simply working to defend a democratic ally abroad, in the mold of the Reagan conservatives who ran the Republican Party before Trump arrived on the political scene.

“My philosophy is to do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may. If I acted in fear of a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I could make a selfish decision and do something different, but I’m doing what I believe is the right thing. I believe that providing lethal aid to Ukraine at this time is extremely important.”

Johnson’s decision to move forward with his plan in the face of this internal resistance means he will first need the Democrats on the Rules Committee to override opposition from the Conservatives – a highly unusual dynamic in a panel where the minority party, almost without exception, opposes to procedural resolutions that bring proposals to the plenary, even if that same minority party supports the underlying legislation.

House Democratic leaders have not publicly committed to that support. But President Biden endorsed all four of Johnson’s bills on Wednesday — even before the last one was unveiled — and other top Democrats are ready to provide the votes Johnson needs to send the legislation to the Senate.

“We cannot retreat from the world stage under the guise of putting ‘America First,’” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. “We put America first, demonstrating the power of American leadership – that we have the strength, determination and heart to fight for the most vulnerable people, protect their freedom and preserve their dignity.

“I urge the swift passage of these bills.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) stopped short of pronouncing the same support, saying he first wanted to take the temperature of his Democratic Caucus during a Thursday morning meeting on Capitol Hill. But with Biden and DeLauro already supporting Johnson’s legislation, it is virtually inconceivable that Jeffries would oppose the legislation. And on Wednesday afternoon, he framed foreign aid in the broadest historical terms.

“This is a Churchill or Chamberlain moment,” Jeffries told reporters at the Capitol. “We can stand up to Russian aggression in defense of democracy, or we can allow the pro-Putin MAGA extremist Republicans to calm him down.”

Johnson, for his part, said he is pushing to not have to rely on Democratic votes to get the rule across the finish line — “I hope not,” he told CNN in an interview — but at the same time acknowledged the difficult political situation. The landscape in Washington leaves him no choice but to work across the hall.

“We’re not going to get 100 percent of what we want right now because we have the smallest majority in history and we only have a majority in one chamber,” Johnson said. “Republicans rule the House. We have a small majority in the Chamber. Democrats are in charge of the Senate and the White House. So, by definition, we won’t get everything we want.”

That’s the same reality that Johnson acknowledged when reaching deals with Biden on federal spending and government surveillance, which the House speaker laid out in the House in recent weeks. But both negotiations have infuriated hardliners, who are up in arms over the House speaker’s propensity to side with Democrats despite the current dynamics in D.C.

Some of those critics now accuse Johnson, a staunch conservative during his time in Congress, of also betraying his roots in the Ukraine package.

“Democrats will provide, I predict, as many votes as they need to pass the rule, because the rule will certainly fail Republican votes,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who called part of Johnson’s “one joke” plan.

“Democrats will find as many votes as they need, why wouldn’t they?” he added. “We are doing, once again, what the Democrats want to do.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a prominent Johnson critic who filed a motion to vacate the House against the House speaker, specifically took aim at his decision to move a border bill separate from the foreign aid legislation.

In an effort to appease conservatives, Johnson announced on Wednesday morning that the House would consider a border bill under a separate procedural rule from foreign aid measures – meaning it would not move forward alongside the border bills. relief bill for the Senate, if approved.

The strategy, however, did not please conservatives, who considered it a symbolic way of trying to appease conservatives without alienating Democrats – or even overcoming border security.

“It’s a shiny, theatrical object,” Greene told reporters. “And it’s separate from the foreign aid package because he needs Democrats to help him pass it, so he clearly made the deal with them.”

“It is separate not to upset them, so they will vote for the foreign aid package,” she added. “And it’s the shiny object for Republicans who say we need to do something about the border.”

On the one hand, Johnson has satisfied conservatives: He is adhering to a 72-hour rule that allows lawmakers three full days, after introducing legislation, before they have to vote on it—a schedule that extends votes on foreign aid until Saturday. night.