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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to hold votes on funding for Ukraine and Israel faces growing threat as members of his Republican Party revive their attempt to dismiss him.
Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie said Tuesday he would join Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, another firebrand Republican and Donald Trump ally, to advance a “motion to remove” Johnson from the presidency.
Johnson “should announce his resignation in advance” so a new president can be chosen, Massie said. Greene said on X that Johnson was “serving the Democrats” and throwing his party into chaos by “funding foreign wars.”
The comments came less than 24 hours after Johnson unveiled a plan to vote on funding for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, a potential breakthrough after months of Republican opposition to a new aid to kyiv.
But the threat to remove Johnson also jeopardizes his foreign aid plan, just as kyiv’s political and military leaders say its forces are running out of ammunition and funds in their two-year war to beat back the full-scale invasion of Russia.
Johnson pledged to fight for the bills, which could come up for a vote within days — even as members of Congress were still waiting for the drafts to be released Tuesday.
“It’s absurd in my opinion that someone would bring forward a motion to cancel, when we’re just here trying to do our job. It doesn’t help the cause, it doesn’t help the country,” he said.
Johnson, speaking just days after Iran launched its air attack on Israel, said he was a “war president,” adding: “I didn’t expect this to be a path easy. »
The president, a Trump ally who visited Mar-a-Lago to speak with the former president last week, has struggled for months to hold together warring factions of his party, including opposing isolationist Republicans to additional American support for kyiv and partisan conservatives. reluctant to work with Democrats to pass legislation.
On Monday, Johnson proposed replacing a Senate-approved $95 billion bill offering more aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with four separate bills, which would also include new sanctions against Iran.
But the full texts of the bills had not yet been released as of Tuesday — and it was unclear whether he would get enough votes to pass the legislation in the coming days. The Republican majority in the 435-seat House will be reduced to just one vote later this week when Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher resigns.
As a result, Johnson is increasingly likely to rely on Democratic support to pass legislation — or to retain his job as president. Any bill passed in the House will also need to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate before being submitted to US President Joe Biden for signature.
Congressional Democrats and the White House have not said whether they will support Johnson’s latest plan. A White House official confirmed that Biden and Johnson spoke on Monday.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, told reporters on Tuesday that “on their face, these proposals do provide necessary security assistance to Ukraine and Israel at a critical time.” but added that the White House would reserve judgment until they were given more details.
Additional reporting by Steff Chávez in Washington
