The revolt against Johnson’s speakership comes as his conference weighs the future of Ukraine aid—perhaps the most divisive topic facing the House GOP. In an attempt to satisfy both the GOP’s Ukraine aid supporters and its detractors, Johnson has proposed putting aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan up for separate votes on the House floor this week.
Mike Johnson Is Gambling His Speakership on Ukraine. He May Lose.The House speaker is betting he can get Ukraine aid over the finish line this week—and that it won’t cost him his speakership.
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
Johnson told reporters Tuesday morning, he’s not going anywhere, invoking yet another GOP speaker, Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
“Former Speaker Newt Gingrich posted a couple days ago on his social media that this is the hardest challenge that’s faced a speaker—probably in the history of the country—at the moment,” Johnson said.
For months, Republicans have tried to use their party’s apathy toward supporting a U.S. ally from Russian attack as leverage to pursue conservative border security policies.
If Johnson works with them, Rep. Don Beyer (R-VA) speculated that Johnson would bleed more support within his conference, making a motion to vacate even more certain.
- “Now I don’t know how our support for him affects his support within his own caucus,” Beyer told The Daily Beast.
- “If 20 of us vote not to vacate him, does that mean another 20 Republicans vote to vacate?” Beyer asked. “I don't know.”
Indeed, according to Malliotakis, such collaboration with the Democrats would be a grave—perhaps lethal—strike against the speaker.
“I guess he could do that,” she said. “I don’t see how that builds trust within the conference.”
=========================================================================
House speaker Mike Johnson is attempting a high-wire act this week - one that could blow up in his face, cost him the job he has clung to for six months, and throw the lower chamber into chaos.
Now, he’s come up with a complicated plan to pass foreign aid by breaking up the supplemental national security funding package already passed by the Senate.
Johnson will attempt to pass five bills - three dealing with military and security assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan individually. A fourth bill would deal with the divestiture or sale of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, and freeze Russian assets in the US. A fifth bill focuses on border security and includes some of the core components of a hardline immigration bill passed by the House in 2023.
For much of his speakership, Johnson has been between a rock and a hard place. He remains barely in control of one of the slimmest majorities and most ungovernable caucuses in memory, constantly battling protests and revolts from his party’s right flank, often in the face of a unified Democratic minority. His greatest asset in the immediate future may be the weariness and fatigue that has settled over the House after months of rightwing antics.
Both Ms Greene and Mr Massie are opposed to further military assistance to Ukraine. With Mr Massie’s statement and joining Rep. Greene’s motion to vacate, the credibility of the threat suddenly grew. The addition of Mr Massie to her cause echoed the rebellion that fomented against House speaker Kevin McCarthy last fall, when he was ousted after less than a year on the job.
- “I am not concerned about this, I am going to do my job, and I think that’s what the American people expect of us,” Mr Johnson said of Ms Greene’s proposed ouster.
- “It is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs.”
“And I’m sure that Marjorie understands that, she’s a very good friend of mine. And I know she has a lot of respect for the speaker,” he said, referring to Ms Greene.
“The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid - while unquestionably, dangerous criminals, terrorists, & fentanyl pour across our border. The border “vote” in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose,” he tweeted.
But like everything else in Congress, Mr Johnson’s future is down to a numbers game. But there’s plenty of reasons to believe that an ouster bid by the far-right will not succeed.
In fact, it could be Democrats that come to his rescue. Mr Johnson’s plan to pass the separate foreign aid measures will rely on Democratic support.
==========================================================================
==========================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment