CNN
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Chairman Mike Johnson has faced international criticism for not taking swift action on aiding Ukraine, making him not only a new chairman, but also a major contributor to Ukraine's ongoing war effort against Russia. Pressure is mounting to make important decisions that will have a significant impact on the future.
So far, Johnson has resisted calls to bring the Senate-passed aid package to an early vote, although such a move would require support from Democrats and almost certainly from the right. could spark a revolt, something Prime Minister Johnson wants to avoid. He said the bill, which includes more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, cannot pass in its current form and privately told Republicans in a closed session last week that there was “no need to rush” the issue. spoke to Congress. Since leaving town for almost 2 weeks vacation.
The stakes of the high-profile debate, and Mr Johnson's pivotal role in the legislative response, received further attention over the weekend. World leaders gathered for the annual Munich Security Conference just as news broke that Russian rebel leader Alexei Navalny had died in prison, while Ukraine was being attacked by Russian troops on the battlefield. It was a serious setback. These two developments have brought a new sense of urgency to Congress. The move comes as the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches this weekend and the Ukrainian military warns it is running out of resources to resist.
Some House Republicans support additional aid to Ukraine, and they have the support of a majority across Congress, but Johnson will have to manage an unruly right wing that strongly resists further aid. Passing a stand-alone bill, some of which include threats to their own jobs, would likely meet the same fate that ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. And to complicate matters further, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump also participated in the debate, urging Republicans to oppose funding to Ukraine and criticizing NATO. It continues.
Some Republicans, like Sen. J.D. Vance, echo President Trump's rhetoric arguing that no more aid should be given, while calling for a bipartisan solution in the absence of a clear path forward. There are some members who will present it. But it is unclear where Mr Johnson stands, caught between competing factions within his party, amid fresh warnings over the weekend about the seriousness of the situation.
“I think a lot of us understand the plan there,” one Republican lawmaker, speaking freely on condition of anonymity, told CNN. “If Mike Johnson has a plan, I don't think any House Republican would know about it.”
The pressure cooker facing Mr Johnson has exposed his dissatisfaction with the way he approaches himself as a public speaker. As House Republicans look to party leaders to make a decisive choice, the speaker did not make his own preference clear, instead encouraging members to come forward with their own ideas.
“When the chips are down in the fourth quarter, every team needs someone in the huddle to call the shots.” added the Republican lawmaker. “Late in a close game, not everyone can bring in their plays and discuss them equally. You need a captain. Mike Johnson is our captain, and it's time for him to call the game.”
Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, said Johnson's job would be in jeopardy if he tabled the Senate's foreign aid bill in the full House. This is an indication of the conundrum he finds himself in.
“At that point, Democrats will need to continue to hold the gavel,” Davidson told CNN. “Some of my colleagues have already made that promise. I believe it is not an empty threat.”
As funding for Ukraine languishes in the House, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there was “a lot of conversation” in Munich about the importance of U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Sen. Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the sense of crisis was only underscored by Navalny's death.
“I hope it moves the needle. It shouldn't take anything to move the needle. We just have to get it done,” Cardan said. “Ukraine is in dire need of U.S. aid, which was passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The House must take up this issue immediately. Why? Because Ukraine is literally , because they need ammunition to stop Russia.”
“So this is something that is urgent and I think what happened here in Munich only emphasizes that,” he added.
It's not just Democrats who are critical. Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a battleground district in Pennsylvania, criticized the Senate's foreign aid package and House Republican leaders for rejecting its policies. A bipartisan border agreement with no backup plan.
“I think it's OK to criticize other people's work as long as there's a better alternative,” he told CNN. “It's not okay to criticize someone's work or offer an alternative, especially when it comes to existential and time-sensitive issues like the ones we're working on right now.”
After the Senate passed a $95 billion aid package with support from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, the fate of aid to Ukraine now rests in the hands of Mr. Johnson, who has been in the job just four months and has little experience in the international community. It depends almost entirely on stage.
Mr Johnson voted against funding to Ukraine as an ordinary lawmaker and has never visited the country as part of a parliamentary delegation, sources said. But as speaker, Johnson has privately signaled to lawmakers that he understands the gravity of the situation and wants to find a way to address it, according to Republican officials who have met with him. As chairman, he took a slightly different tone.
In a statement released over the weekend following Navalny's death, Mr Johnson called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “vicious dictator” who “must be met with opposition”, but did not reveal his plans. There wasn't.
“As Congress debates the best path forward to help Ukraine, the United States and our partners are committed to doing everything possible to cut off President Putin's ability to finance his unprovoked war in Ukraine and invasion of the Baltic states. must be used,” Prime Minister Johnson said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said internal discussions continue over how to deal with Ukraine, including structuring the funds as a loan requested by President Trump and finding ways to offset the cost of the bill. , said nothing has been decided yet.
“There's a lot of creative ideas being talked about, like loan structures and billing,” Scalise told CNN in a recent exclusive interview. “We are considering many options with our leadership team.”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has repeatedly accused Johnson of inaction. The House and Senate are scheduled to recess until next week, but top House Republicans are gathering in Florida over the weekend and early this week for a variety of annual leadership dinners, officials said.
“They're making a big mistake,” Biden told reporters on Monday. “The way they're moving away from the Russian state, the way they're moving away from NATO… I've never seen anything like this.”
Johnson told lawmakers last week that Biden had requested talks on Ukraine and the southern border before moving forward, but that request has not yet been granted. Asked Monday if Biden planned to meet with the speaker, he said, “If you have anything to say, I'd be happy to meet.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also continued to press Mr. Johnson in a new statement Sunday, calling on House Republicans to pass a foreign aid bill and saying President Putin is “watching it closely.” There is.
“Last week, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a supplementary bill on national security, and I urged the House and Speaker Johnson to take action. But now Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political rival Alexei Navalny The deaths are sounding an urgent alarm,” Schumer said. said the New York Democrat in a statement.
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson considers how to proceed, some MPs are taking matters into their own hands. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced its own foreign package, which includes only military aid to Ukraine and some border security provisions, but is still likely to face resistance.
There is also discussion among Democrats about using so-called dismissal petitions to force a floor vote on the aid package. But this procedural tool is cumbersome, time-consuming, and would require Republican buy-in, so it is not currently considered a viable option.
Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and in Munich this weekend, said there was enough bipartisan support to pass the Ukraine aid despite deep skepticism from some within the Republican Party. he claimed.
“When I get back to Washington, I think we'll have an opportunity to move forward on this important relief package, because it's so important,” the Ohio Republican said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “This absolutely has to happen. This is critical to U.S. support for Ukraine.”
CNN's Alex Marquardt contributed reporting.
Correction: This article has been updated to correctly reflect the quote to Sen. Ben Cardin regarding the urgency of passing the funding bill.
