As Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to rally Republican support for the new $95 billion foreign aid bill pushed by the House Appropriations Committee—which includes $60.84 billion for Ukraine—members of his own party are forming a movement to remove him from office.
On Tuesday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) announced he is supporting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) motion to vacate support behind Johnson’s speakership. Massie claimed he told Johnson to resign at a private meeting among House Republicans. Johnson rejected the call. “”I am not resigning,” Johnson told the media at the GOP’s weekly press briefing. “I am not concerned about this. I am going to do my job.”
Biden backs the spending bill, which also includes funding for Taiwan and Israel. “The House must pass the package this week, and the Senate should quickly follow,” Biden said. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”
Johnson was appointed to Speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was removed from office by eight House Republicans, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), due to his inability to balance the budget and his consistent acquiescence to large spending packages for Ukraine pushed by Democrats.
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But Johnson defends his choice to back more Ukraine aid, saying “history judges us for what we do” and “this is a critical time right now on the world-stage.” He further elaborated that he is doing what he “believes is the right thing,” and that Putin would “march through Europe” and go to war with Poland or another NATO ally if he stood unopposed by Ukraine.
No one cares about “the Speaker’s agenda.” They want the American agenda. https://t.co/eoxwZbnRmE
— Rep. Scott Perry (@RepScottPerry) April 18, 2024
Massie remains confident that they will be able to oust Johnson. “I will tell you, if it is called, there will be a lot of people who vote for it,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Enough already! If you ever even begin to start believing anything anyone in Republican leadership tells you just watch this. Pay close attention to those that don’t seem bothered by this. They’re not our friends. pic.twitter.com/rj2NMGBarg
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 18, 2024
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics and business for VT and a regular guest on The Unusual Suspects. Follow Shane’s work here.
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