The head of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has revised his views on military assistance to Ukraine.
Dec. 2, 2023
Mike Johnson, who from the first days of his appointment did not hide his dissatisfaction with the US providing assistance to Ukraine, unexpectedly announced that supporting Ukraine is a “critical priority” for the US. The head of the US House of Representatives did not explain what caused such a sharp change in his position regarding Ukraine, but at the same time he supported his words with a solid argument, saying: “We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to march through Europe, and we understand the need for help.”
This was reported by The Wall Street Journal: “Mike Johnson Becomes Surprise Champion of More Ukraine Aid”
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/house-speaker-mike-johnson-ukraine-71a87e17
From the material you can learn that the issue of military assistance to Ukraine today remains controversial for American politicians. At the same time, by resolving this dispute, Mike Johnson will be able to demonstrate his professionalism, since his predecessor Kevin McCarthy was unable to cope with this task, for which he lost his position.
Journalists of the publication emphasize that the fate of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of $61 billion now largely depends on the opinion of Mike Johnson, and if he has changed his view on this issue, then there is every chance that the United States will allocate money.
Earlier, Speaker of the House of Representatives Johnson spoke about assistance to Ukraine. Also, US Congress Speaker Johnson first mentioned Israel in his speech. Let us remind you that the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Johnson spoke about additional assistance to Ukraine.
https://www.dialog.ua/world/285859_1701549509
Sometimes, when a person assumes a certain position, he or she sees things in a different light. This is the case with Mike Johnson. He knows that refusing aid to Ukraine is a death sentence to the entire nation. It also opens the proverbial Pandora’s Box for the rest of Europe and in the Far East. I’m glad his conscience doesn’t allow this to happen.
“Journalists of the publication emphasize that the fate of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of $61 billion now largely depends on the opinion of Mike Johnson, and if he has changed his view on this issue, then there is every chance that the United States will allocate money. ”
All Johnson has to do, is allow a straight up vote in Congress, or is he too scared of upsetting the MAGA rabble?
We’ll see if he’s afraid of the handful of dorks. But, I doubt it.
Can’t count on politicians until the vote is in but from the beginning of his term, he’s been saying that Putin needs to be stopped and aid to Ukraine is vital, despite his support of Trump. I’m beginning to feel better about Johnson and may see someone who thinks independently and doesn’t walk, talk, crawl on his belly like a MAGA.
“from the beginning of his term, he’s been saying that Putin needs to be stopped and aid to Ukraine is vital”
What? Mike Johnson was one of 70 House Republicans who voted to cut off all US military aid to Ukraine. Roll call here:
https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2023/roll304.xml
I hope that he is a man of his word and his future actions reflect what he’s been saying; that Ukraine aid is important and will continue to flow.
Mike Johnson was also one of 89 House Republicans who voted to strike $300 million in Ukraine funding. Roll call here:
https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2023/roll303.xml
It just occurred to me – did you mean from the beginning of his term as speaker, rather than from the beginning of his term in office? Because up until recently, he was terrible about supporting Ukraine.
Actually Johnson has been in favor of Ukraine even before he became Speaker. The reason he and a number of other republicans voted against the Ukraine funding was that they wanted accountability and for Biden to provide a strategy. I’m not saying all MAGA republicans were saying this only a few republicans and Johnson was one of them. .
“Actually Johnson has been in favor of Ukraine even before he became Speaker.”
I can find no evidence of that. According to the “Ukraine Report Card” that Bert posted here previously, Johnson received an “F” rating – “Very Poor”. That was based on his record:
• Voted against the 2022 Ukraine Supplemental Appropriation
• Voted in favor of Amendment 21 to H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have stricken $300 million of assistance for Ukraine.
• Voted in favor of Amendment 22 to H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have prohibited all security assistance for Ukraine.
• Voted in favor of Amendment 25 to H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have removed the extension of lend-lease authority to Ukraine.
• Voted against H.R. 5692: Ukraine Security Assistance and Oversight Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023.
• Made an anti-Ukraine statement or statements.
You can see a screen shot of his report card here:
https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/10/25/rep-mike-johnson-becomes-new-us-house-speaker/
The only “plus” that they gave him was that he “Voted in favor of The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, which allowed the lending/lease of American defense materiel to Ukraine.”
Larry I’m not going to defend Johnson. However over a year ago he was speaking about the dangers of Putin. That is a fact. The fact he’s a politician and is always looking for a quid pro quo is another matter
“over a year ago he was speaking about the dangers of Putin”
I didn’t see any evidence of that, either, but I didn’t spend a great deal of time searching – because I’m concerned about his support for Ukraine, not about his feelings for Putin. (Interestingly, I did come across this article saying “The New Speaker Is Not Just Trump’s Man; He’s Putin’s Man, Too”.
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-10-26-new-speaker-trumps-man-putins-man/
It says that Johnson’s opposition to funding Ukraine’s defense is because “Putin is his fellow gay-bashing bro.”)
As for the Ukrainian Report Card it only looks at the end result without any consideration if the why. Once again I’m not defending Johnson but to force the White House to set out a strategic plan is not weird. I don’t like it but I certainly understand why
Johnson has undergone a 180° turn. Did those British Conservatives manage to influence him? Who knows?
It is most welcome though.
MTG will be shaking with so much rage that her jackboots will fall off, along with her branded putler imaged panties.
Usually the switch goes the other way. Orban in 2008 condemned putler’s invasion of Georgia, but since then transformed himself into putler’s number one EU/Nato shill.
The Russian kremlin troll Michael Savage; a close friend of Trumpkov, was interviewing him in the weeks following Crimea on his show.
They were animatedly discussing a range of topics of interest to Republicans. Suddenly Trump went into an anti-putler riff on Crimea. There was an awkward silence, an ad-break and it was dropped like a hot potato. They went back to Obamacare.
The next time Trumpkov appeared on the show, he was presenting the same sneering contempt for Ukraine and fawning admiration for putler that he has now.
I doubt that their doctrines or morales haven’t gone through sudden changes to go from criticizing mafia land/Vlad to supporting them. It is either hefty payments to their bank accounts – bought and paid for whores, if you will – or the little KGB runt has some nasty, perverted kompromat on them.
I hope Speaker Johnson backs up his verbal support of Ukraine with decisive action.
The WSJ article is behind a paywall. But the Mike Johnson quote shown is from 5 days ago. So, it seems that there’s nothing new.
Important questions are:
1. Does he still want to split President Biden’s funding request, and pass assistance for Israel before assistance for Ukraine?
2. Does he want to link assistance for Ukraine with change to USA border policy that would never pass the House or Senate?
I wish I could give you answers to your questions, but I can only take guesses.
I think the only way we’ll get answers is by seeing what transpires.
But above you wrote, “We’ll see if he’s afraid of the handful of dorks.” [the MAGA rabble]
He’s *part of* the MAGA rabble. That’s why he got the speakership.
“He’s *part of* the MAGA rabble. That’s why he got the speakership.”
You’re right about that. His history in the House does not bode well for Ukraine if he keeps denying the fact that aid to Ukraine is vitally important. But, thankfully, it seems that he’s changed his mind and does support Ukraine aid.
At this point, I’d like to add that I welcome the other MAGA morons to do the same, and then all will be honky dory. I doubt it, though, that some will follow Johnson’s lead, because it seems that they are just too narrow-minded and have nefarious qualities.
“it seems that he’s changed his mind”
The reason for my questioning is, does he really support Ukraine aid now? Or is that a scheme to get people to go along with splitting President Biden’s funding request, and letting the Israel funding go through first because people believe he now supports aid for Ukraine so it will surely follow – but then the Ukrainian aid never materializes?
We know that Johnson is calling for serious border policy changes. Democrats are objecting to harmful proposals that would “potentially deny lifesaving humanitarian protection for vulnerable people, including children, and fail to deliver any meaningful improvement to the situation at the border.”
Senator Alex Padilla said that “Using a one-time spending package to enact these unrelated permanent policy changes sets a dangerous precedent and risks assistance to our international partners.”
Senator Chris Murphy said, “We’re being asked to solve a really complicated, politically difficult domestic issue in order to save Ukraine and stop Vladimir Putin’s march into Europe. I don’t know whether we can get there — Republican demands are pretty, pretty high — but we’re trying.”
So, Johnson could be both looking to split the aid, and looking to put the blame on Democrats if the Ukranian aid doesn’t go through because of the unreasonable Republican demands.
We’ll just have to see how this plays out. I just hope that President Biden’s aid package gets passed and Ukraine gets the aid they need.
Quite frankly, I don’t understand the reason why the Democrats want to keep our borders open. The humanitarian crisis is brought on by this policy in the first place. We cannot save every person in South and Central America, nor are we obliged to do so. Our first concern is the United States and its people. In this respect, I understand the stance that certain Republicans are taking. What’s wrong with their methodology, however, is that they are using Ukraine as a weapon to extort concessions from the Democrats. I think that this is very wrong. Thus, both sides are not right about their behavior. They are acting like children.
Indeed, we must wait and see how this develops.
“nor are we obliged to do so”
Under the Geneva Convention, refugees have the right to apply for asylum.
The have the right to apply in the first country they arrive in…MEXICO
Those streaming across our border are not refugees.