Johnson aid proposal met with protest
WASHINGTON: The fate of US aid to Ukraine hung in the balance on Tuesday as House Speaker Mike Johnson faced potential revolt from within his Republican party over his complex plan to renew the long-delayed funding along with fresh assistance for Israel.
Mr Johnson, who leads a razor-thin Republican majority, announced late on Monday that his chamber would vote this week on separate aid bills for Ukraine, Israel, and other national security items, after stalling for months over pressure from his party’s right-wing.
Several members of that faction quickly voiced outrage at the $95 billion (2.2 trillion baht) plan and raised the prospect of triggering a vote on removing Mr Johnson from his position — as was done to his predecessor.
Far-right firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of Donald Trump who opposes any compromise with Democrats, said on Monday that she was undecided on triggering the socalled motion to vacate, but stated that Mr Johnson’s days were numbered. “He’s definitely not going to be speaker next Congress if we’re lucky enough to have the majority,” the Georgia representative told reporters.
Her Republican colleague Thomas Massie said on Tuesday that he had decided to cosponsor Ms Greene’s resolution, but also did not pledge to immediately trigger the procedure.
“He should pre-announce his resignation... so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker,” he said on X.
When asked about the fresh revolt, Mr Johnson told reporters on Tuesday: “I am not resigning.”
Without the near-total backing of his party, Mr Johnson would be left to rely on Democratic votes to pass the aid bills. That would infuriate his own party’s hard-right faction.
A similar attempt at compromise led to his predecessor’s historic removal in October, though several Democrats have announced that this time around they would offer their votes to protect Mr Johnson.
In the meantime, it was unclear if the aid bills — yet to be released as of Tuesday afternoon — would even pass the House or Democratic-controlled Senate.
The White House said on Tuesday that the outlined bills appear to meet the military needs of Ukraine and Israel — but that President Joe Biden still needed to study the proposals.