Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday that he is sticking to his plan to table a series of foreign aid bills, including funding for Ukraine, after facing significant pressure from hardliners.
“After important feedback and discussion by members, the House Rules Committee will soon today release the text of three bills that will fund U.S. national security interests and allies in Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and Ukraine, including an aid loan structure, and improved strategy and accountability,” Johnson said in the note.
The three-part supplemental package is strikingly similar to the Senate bill in several key respects, including that the package includes just over $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and other conflict zones around the world, which was a red line for Democrats .
Together, the bills amount to about $95 billion in aid – the same amount that was included in the Senate bill – with an adjustment that $10 billion in economic aid to Ukraine is in the form of a repayable loan. This specific aid is the kind of direct payment that helps the Ukrainian government continue to function during a war.
These loans consist of approximately $7.9 billion in economic aid to Ukraine and another $1.6 billion in aid to Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia, requiring the president to reach an agreement with Kiev to return the financing pay. According to a source familiar, the administration could forgive the debt if they wanted to.
In total, the bill will send $61 billion to Ukraine and regional partners, including $23 billion to replenish U.S. supplies. It will also include $26 billion to Israel and $8 billion to the Indo-Pacific, according to a press release from the House Appropriations Committee.
The battle over the bills — and the opportunity for right-wing members of the Republican Party to try to unseat Johnson over them — adds to the most intense pressure the speaker has faced over his short time in office future. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said Tuesday he would co-sponsor Rep.’s motion. Marjorie Taylor Greene to resign, which would remove Johnson from the speakership if passed, prompting the speaker to defiantly tell reporters he would not resign.
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” why the foreign aid packages weren’t broken up months ago, given Ukraine’s desperate need for aid, Johnson said it “takes a long time to socialize and build consensus when you take the smallest majority in American history.”
“Look, we know what the timetable is,” he added. “We know the urgency in Ukraine and Israel, and we will support Israel, our closest ally and dear friend, and we will stand up for freedom and ensure that Vladimir Putin does not march through Europe.”
Johnson appeared unfazed by the threats to oust him, insisting he is not “walking around thinking about the proposal to leave.”
“It’s a procedural issue here that I think has been abused in recent times,” he said. “Maybe we can change that at some point, but right now I have to do my job, and so do all my colleagues.”
Johnson under pressure
The loan structure around aid comes after a meeting and press conference with Johnson and former President Donald Trump, who said in February that the U.S. should stop providing foreign aid unless it is structured as a loan. That weekend, Johnson received Trump’s full support at a perilous time as speaker.
Johnson had announced on Monday evening that the House will pass separate bills this week to provide aid to Israel and Ukraine, responding to demands from the far right to keep the issues separate. But the final product is expected to be lumped together as one big package sent to the Senate, sources familiar said. The House of Representatives can do this through an arcane procedure, something that infuriates the right wing of the Republican Party, but it is what Democrats have insisted on as a condition of their support.
The speaker is facing mounting pressure to make adjustments to the foreign aid package proposed earlier this week — and not just from his most right-wing members. While conservative members of the House Freedom caucus have been raising alarms about border security and foreign aid bills since Tuesday’s caucus meeting, the cries have now reached the grassroots.
New York’s moderate Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told the speaker on Wednesday to “go back to Biden and Schumer and tell them he needs a border security measure to pass foreign aid.” Johnson said in his letter to members that he will introduce an immigration bill similar to the House’s H.R. 2.
Some far-right Republicans in the House of Representatives quickly rejected the border bill that Johnson had announced would be included in the foreign aid bills expected to be voted on Saturday, dispelling any hope that the border provisions would undermine the speaker’s right flank would calm down.
In an embarrassing defeat for Johnson on Wednesday night, the House Rules Committee failed to pass a rule on the GOP border security bill, with Republicans threatening to vote against the measure in committee.
Moderate Republican Rep. Mike Lawler called on Massie, Texas Rep. Chip Roy and South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman to resign from the panel, accusing them of blocking the speaker’s agenda.
“The three members who refuse to support the Chairman’s agenda should immediately resign from the Rules Committee. If they refuse, they must be removed immediately. They are there on behalf of the conference, not themselves,” Lawler said in a social media post.
The border bill, which contains core provisions of another House-passed border package that is still dead in the Senate, was seen by Johnson as a messaging exercise in an effort to appease his colleagues’ demands at the border, and it seems clear not to be like that. to work.
Greene, who is leading the effort to oust Johnson, said of X: “You are seriously out of step with Republicans by continuing to pass bills that depend on Democrats. Everyone sees through this.”
Conservative hardliners were quick to anger Johnson over his decision to go ahead with billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, loudly warning him that it could cost him his job.
An angry Roy said he is “very disappointed” in the speaker, and that he is “past the point of mercy.”
“I need a little more time today, but it’s not good,” Roy said when asked by CNN if it is time for him to leave office.
Firebrand Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz called Johnson’s decision to move forward with the foreign aid bills tantamount to “surrender,” vowing to vote against the package and work hard to pressure others not to support the move. Other Republicans also expressed their anger and have not ruled out voting against Johnson on procedural motions that could overturn the bill.
In a first major test of the measures, the House Rules Committee will meet Thursday morning to advance Johnson’s plans for the foreign aid package. However, the three hardliners on the panel who blocked the border security bill on Wednesday also threatened to oppose a rule on the foreign aid law.
Democrats might be needed
With Republicans controlling the House by only a razor-thin margin, Johnson will likely need Democrats to pass the foreign aid bills — and save his job if the motion to clear the House comes to the floor.
House Democrats are awaiting a verdict on exactly how much they will help with procedural votes on the aid package until they see whether it includes something indispensable to them: $9 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza and other conflict zones across worldwide. The billions in humanitarian aid include money not just for Gaza, but also for Sudan, Haiti and other areas that Democrats have been quick to point out.
At a caucus meeting Tuesday, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told his caucus they would not accept “one cent” less humanitarian aid.
President Joe Biden offered his first explicit endorsement of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan on Wednesday.
“I strongly support this package to deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine, to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in Gaza, and to strengthen security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Israel is facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine is facing continued bombing from Russia, which has increased dramatically over the past month,” Biden said in a statement.
The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine is starting to change “a little bit … in Russia’s favor,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers on Wednesday as he pushed for passage of the additional aid package for Ukraine.
“In terms of, you know, what happens in the future and how long Ukraine will be able to sustain its efforts, I think we’re already seeing things starting to shift a little bit on the battlefield in terms of in Russia’s favor Austin said. told the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee.
However, Democrats in the House of Representatives are divided over whether they would try to save Johnson if there is an attempt to impeach him in the House. Institutionalists insist that voting against a motion to evict could protect the body from chaos just months before the presidential election. . Progressive members, meanwhile, warn that helping Johnson now could ultimately undermine the party’s base, which may already be less than enthusiastic about its turnout at the polls in November.
Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi and Jared Moskowitz have said publicly that they would not support an effort to impeach Johnson, but other Democrats — including one who held the same position as Johnson — are unwilling to make such a commitment.
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, and that we can live up to our responsibilities and protect and defend our own democracy as we protect theirs,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
If Johnson is indeed impeached, it could plunge the House into chaos again, with no legislation being brought up until a new speaker is elected.
This story was updated Wednesday with additional developments.
CNN’s Manu Raju and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
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