Elena Buturlim17:11, 04/21/24
The House Speaker’s views have changed based on intelligence, political pressure and personal beliefs.
The decision of Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson to risk his position and push through a bill on foreign aid , in particular to Ukraine, was the culmination of the political career of a Republican from Louisiana, writes The New York Times .
“I want to be on the right side of history,” Representative Michael McCaul of Texas was quoted as saying by Johnson.
It is noted that as an ordinary hardliner, Johnson largely opposed funding for Kyiv’s military efforts. At the beginning of his speakership, he declared that he would never allow a vote on the issue until his party’s demands regarding the border were met. But when he signaled he planned to team up with Democrats to push through the relief package, Johnson sounded very different.
Johnson’s change of position
“History judges us for what we do. Now is a critical time. I could make a selfish decision and do something different. But I do what I think is right. I believe that providing lethal assistance to Ukraine is critical now “, the politician told reporters at the Capitol.
Johnson attributed his change of heart partly to intelligence received, in particular that Vladimir Putin would not stop and could encroach on the Baltic states. “Suddenly he realized that the world depended on this. This is not some little political game in the boardroom,” Mr. McCall said.
One of the most influential briefings, according to people familiar with the discussions, took place in the Oval Office in February, when congressional leaders met with Joe Biden to discuss government funding and aid to Ukraine. Senior national security officials tried to convince Johnson that Ukraine was rapidly running out of ammunition and how dire the consequences would be if air defenses were not bolstered by American weapons.
Johnson was also struck by stories he heard during meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and others about the scale of suffering Russian troops have caused in the country, journalists said. All this hurt Johnson’s Christian feelings.
Political pressure
The authors point out that the speaker also faced increasing political pressure to act. In addition to Johnson’s predicament, he found himself in an extremely awkward situation where Democrats, as well as some Republicans, actively supported aid to Ukraine. Each told the speaker how vital it was to send help.
At the same time, Johnson was talking to his allies and wondering what measures could be included to make the relief bill more palatable to Republicans. Around the same time, Johnson began telling allies, first privately and then out loud, that he would ensure the US sent funding to Kyiv. The patience of politically vulnerable Republicans who wanted to vote in support of Ukraine also ran out.
When he agreed to push through the relief package, he faced a wave of anger from the right wing of the Republican Conference, whose members accused Johnson of treason and repeatedly called on him to change course. However, the politician noted that he is not worried about his own position as speaker, but is seriously concerned about Ukraine’s ability to contain Russia without US help. The passage of the aid package sparked a new wave of fury among hardliners, the newspaper said.
Johnson did not take the House floor to make the case for any of the relief bills, as speakers almost always do, and stood on the sidelines as lawmakers voted. After the law passed, he gave a curt speech about the importance of aid.
US assistance
On April 20, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved Johnson’s proposed spending bill to help Ukraine. The US Senate will consider the bill on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. President Joe Biden promised to sign the document immediately after adoption.
At the same time, aid to Ukraine has split the Republican Party and exposed Donald Trump’s problems. At least on foreign policy issues, the Republican Party does not fully support the former president.
(C)UNIAN 2024
Imho a crucial point was this:
“Mr. Johnson told reporters on Thursday that he believed that if he did not act soon, G.O.P. lawmakers would try to circumvent him by using a procedure called a discharge petition to force a vote on the Senate bill.”
Since he couldn’t prevent it anyway, and risked a break-up of the GOP over this, Johnson wanted at least to add his own provisions to the bill. He didn’t really have much choice, patience of pro-Ukrainian Congressmen was running out. 🤨
Not to mention that Moscow Marge already filed a motion to oust him. If he allowed the vote, he could hope that some Democrats would reciprocate by voting against the motion to vacate.
Pray that you don’t need military support from the US in an election year. It’s quite clear what is going on here. The level of depravity on the part of Trump & the extreme MAGA in the House is staggering. Their campaign strategy is to deny any kind of remedy for the massive disasters Biden has created on the border and in regard to foreign wars. The border problems are relatively easy to fix. The war in Ukraine: not so much. The precise problem is, the situation in Ukraine has been deteriorating at a pace that is quicker than optimal for Trump’s campaign: he wants to promise to end the war; he doesn’t want to deal with an emboldened, victorious Putin. The trajectory of the war, extrapolated out to six months, is favoring the later. Intel, the CIA, and so on, have been telling Speaker Johnson this, and a tipping point occurred last week. Everything changed when Speaker Johnson went to Mar-a-Lago. In the press conference Trump even reprimanded MTG. Twice. The ugliness and cruelty of US politics is on full display for the world. It’s not all bad though. The past six months have given rise to at least one positive development: Europe is scrambling like never before to help Ukraine. We can hope the Biden administration does the same.
Hmm, an interesting idea, Duck. Trump wants to make sure it’s him who presides over a peace deal with Russia? So, Ukraine needs to be safeguarded from defeat until the grandstanding dealmaker is back in the White House? Yeah, that’s very much possible. Tgqt would explain the turnaround, sure. 🤔
Trump wanting to preside over a peace deal with Russia that is unfavorable to Ukraine is one sinister step beyond my thesis. I assume that’s what you mean, Gray. I wrote only that Trump wants to end the war (a peace deal must be favorable to Ukraine otherwise it’s not a peace deal at all) and that he doesn’t want Putin to be emboldened & feeling victorious, as that risks direct US involvement, something Trump will avoid at nearly all cost.
Yeah, I see your point, Duck. Makes sense. 👋🙂👍