All eyes are on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) this week as he is expected to put foreign aid legislation on the floor — a measure that is taking on increasing importance in the wake of the Iran to Israel over the weekend, and that still comes with a series of political pitfalls as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) threatens to force a vote to remove the House speaker.
Johnson said on Sunday that the House would “try again” to pass aid to Israel this week, after previous attempts failed in the lower house and failed in the Senate. But he did not say how he intends to handle long-stalled aid to Ukraine, a looming issue that has significant implications for the fate of foreign aid in the House and for Johnson’s tenure at the top of the GOP conference.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties and chambers called on Johnson to put the supplement approved by the Senate following Iran’s attack on Israel on the floor, a prospect the House speaker has rejected at every point in the debate on foreign aid.
“The details of this package are now being worked out. We’re looking at the options on all of these supplemental issues,” Johnson told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Also this week, the House is expected to send articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate after Johnson delayed the process at the request of Senate conservatives. However, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) is expected to move quickly to dismiss the charges.
And in the House, lawmakers could cast yet another vote on U.S. warrantless surveillance authority, after conservatives launched a last-minute procedural strategy in protest of the legislation.
Johnson looks to foreign aid
The House is set to enter the debate on foreign aid this week, as Johnson aims to introduce legislation to help embattled US allies – a highly anticipated measure that has been in the works for months.
But the parameters of that bill, or package of bills, remain unknown, leaving lawmakers waiting to see how the House speaker addresses the politically sensitive topic – especially after Iran attacked Israel over the weekend, while lawmakers sound the alarm over Ukraine’s beleaguered forces, and amid a threat from Greene to file a motion to vacate against Johnson.
The House speaker told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” over the weekend that the House would “try again” this week to send aid to Israel. When asked specifically about assistance to Ukraine, Johnson again suggested sending the money in the form of a loan and adding the REPO Act – which would use frozen seized Russian assets to help Kiev.
“I think these are ideas that can gain consensus,” Johnson said. “And that’s what we’ve been working on. We will send our package. Let’s put something together and send it to the Senate and fulfill these obligations.”
The timeline released by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Sunday says “additional legislative items related to supplemental security appropriations are possible” without releasing further details.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Johnson “sees the path” is for foreign aid to hit the ground this week, and predicted that the provisions relating to Israel and Ukraine will gain broad support.
“I think it will have overwhelming support, both the packages from Ukraine, Israel and Asia, not just because of what happened with the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East by Iran, but because these are allies who need and deserve our support. support,” Turner said. .
But as Johnson’s foreign aid plan remains a mystery, lawmakers of all stripes are urging the Speaker of the House to put the Senate-approved $95 billion supplement on the floor, underscoring the urgency of the moment.
“Congress must also do its part. The national security supplement that has waited months for action will provide critical resources to Israel and our own military forces in the region,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wrote in a statement Saturday.
Greene, meanwhile, maintains her criticism as Johnson moves closer to putting Ukraine aid on the ground – even after former President Trump gave the President a vote of confidence during a joint press conference on Friday.
“How much money do U.S. taxpayers have to pay now after this weekend’s Iranian activities? How much money will Zelenskyy get because obviously Ukraine first?” she wrote on social platformlater adding “Why do I feel like this week is going to be another America week?”
In another post responding According to a reporter’s note about a schedule change this week, Greene sought leadership of the Republican Party.
“We have not had any conference calls from the Republican Party and we have not been briefed by Speaker Johnson on any bills next week. And I asked other members, they said the same,” she wrote, followed by three cricket emojis and then “Speaker Johnson.”
The House added a handful of measures related to Israel and Iran to Sunday night’s schedule, including a bill that would require the Treasury Secretary to report on financial institutions’ involvement with Iranian government officials, and a resolution that labeled the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as anti-Semitic.
House will finally send Mayorkas impeachment articles to the Senate
The Senate will finally receive Mayorka’s articles of impeachment this week, after conservatives in the Upper House pressured Johnson to delay the transfer of charges.
The process, however, is still about to end quickly. Schumer is expected to vote on a motion to dismiss or file the charges, both of which require a majority vote.
“We’re ready to go when they are. We are following our plan. We will move forward with this as quickly as possible,” Schumer said last week when commenting on the revised timeline.
The House impeachment managers were initially scheduled to deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday, April 10, but that schedule was postponed at the request of conservatives in the Upper House, who did not want to rush a vote on the charges before the legislators were approved. scheduled to leave town.
“We don’t want this to happen on the eve of a time when members may be operating under the influence of jet smoke poisoning,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said last week, referring to senators boarding planes. return home right after voting.
Johnson agreed to the request — his spokesman, Taylor Haulsee, said in a statement last week that the Speaker would delay transmitting the articles “to ensure the Senate has adequate time to fulfill its constitutional duty.”
“There is no reason for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial,” he added.
While Schumer is expected to quickly eliminate the articles, Senate Republicans are still pushing for a full impeachment trial. A group of 43 Republicans in the Upper House signed a letter to Schumer last week demanding a trial on the articles.
House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas in February, 214-213 — their second attempt after the first failed. The articles accuse him of “intentional and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust”.
Chamber could hold another procedural vote on FISA
The House could hold another procedural vote this week on legislation to authorize and reform the U.S.’s warrantless surveillance powers, after conservatives launched a last-ditch effort on Friday to block the bill from moving to the floor. Senate.
The chamber must vote on a motion to reconsider the America Intelligence and Security Reform Act, which would extend Section 702 of the Foreign Information Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years.
The House approved the FISA bill in a bipartisan 273-147 vote on Friday. The legislation, much to the chagrin of privacy hawks, did not include an amendment that would add a warrant requirement to Section 702 after the House rejected that provision in a vote of 212-212. In the Chamber, the tie does not work.
Section 702 of FISA allows the government to spy on non-U.S. citizens abroad. But in that process, information about Americans communicating with those being spied on is swept away in the process.
Privacy hawks — especially those on the House Judiciary Committee — wanted to add a warrant requirement to access that information, which the White House and House Intelligence Committee lawmakers vehemently opposed.
As voting was closing, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) – a member of the Judiciary Committee – shouted “I oppose” in the chamber. Seconds later, Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Florida) – the legislation’s sponsor who also sits on the Judiciary panel – filed a motion to reconsider the FISA bill.
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, then offered a motion to table this motion for reconsideration, a vote that was postponed until a later date. As the vote is pending, the FISA bill cannot be sent to the Senate.
While this week’s procedural vote is unlikely to have any impact on the fate of the FISA bill, Republican privacy advocates are hopeful that pressure exerted over the weekend could change the outcome.
“This is not off the House floor, so everyone has to go home and answer to their constituents over the next 72 hours about why they side with the intelligence agencies and the deep state and the swamp over rights and American freedoms. people,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told reporters after Friday’s vote.
The House is also scheduled to vote this week on a data privacy bill sponsored by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), as part of a deal that hard-line GOP privacy hawks struck with leadership to suspend blocking the FISA bill. The legislation, titled the “Fourth Amendment Not for Sale Act,” would require the government to obtain a warrant before purchasing information about U.S. citizens from data brokers.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
