House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony April 10.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony April 10.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson moves forward with plan to vote on separate bills to provide assistance to Ukraine, Israel and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific , despite growing criticism within his conference and the looming threat of being ousted from his position.
The plan is to introduce the three individual foreign aid bills; a fourth bill imposing sanctions on Russia, China and Iran; and a fifth bill including border security measures, Johnson said in a message to House Republicans on Wednesday. The text of the foreign aid bill was released Wednesday afternoon.
The addition of a border security bill comes after a number of House Republicans criticized Johnson for abandoning his earlier demands to tie Ukraine funding to border provisions. A Senate-passed bill that provided foreign aid without any border provisions is languishing in the House. But the change may not be enough to appease radical conservatives, who have quickly spoken out against the project.
The four bills related to foreign threats are being considered under a single procedural “rule,” while the border bill will be considered under a single “rule.” Rep. Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, who opposes funding for Ukraine, said he would object to voting on the rules for the broader package because “the ‘vote’ on the border in this package is a watered-down and dangerous cover-up vote,” he said. wrote on social networks.
Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., also wrote about social networks which “Every true America First conservative patriot in the House should vote against the rule on this bill on borrowed foreign aid without border security!”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who co-sponsored a motion to remove Johnson from the presidency, said Tuesday that adding border provisions would not change his mind.
“We’re way beyond that,” Massie said.
Both Massie and Roy sit on the House Rules Committee, where three Republican “no’s” could reject the motion before it’s even introduced. On the ground, Johnson has almost no room for maneuver within his slim majority.
Typically, the minority does not provide votes to adopt rules on the spot. Speaking to reporters Wednesday morning, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark on Wednesday did not rule out Democrats supporting the rule in the case, but said her caucus must first consider the merits of the legislation .
“They have to tell us what they’re bringing before we can say, ‘This is how we’re going to help you do it,'” Clark said.
Clark said Democrats’ preference would be for a single House vote on the foreign aid plan passed by the Senate, but that their priority was passing aid to Ukraine. She added that providing the $9 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza and other countries included in the Senate bill constitutes a “red line.”
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