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President Biden scored another major legislative victory by getting Ukraine war aid through the Republican-run House with the help of Speaker Mike Johnson, who is now in jeopardy of losing his leadership to a revolt on his right flank.
Mr. Johnson pushed a $95 billion foreign aid package through the House on Saturday despite major opposition from fellow Republicans. The package, which Mr. Biden has been pursuing for months, is all but assured final passage when the Democratic-run Senate takes it up on Tuesday.
Mr. Johnson and his Republican detractors will have a weeklong recess to stew about the aid. The House reconvenes on April 29.
The speaker drew praise from Republican national security hawks and fierce criticism from former President Donald Trump’s wing of the party.
“I think the stock in Mike Johnson has gone way up. I think the respect for him has gone way up because he did the right thing, irrespective of his job,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
SEE ALSO: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene renews threat to oust Speaker Johnson
The sweeping package, passed in four separate bills, includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $23 billion for Israel and $8 billion for Indo-Pacific allies to fend off China. A fourth measure sanctions Iran, Russia and China and uses seized Russian assets to pay for some of the Ukraine spending. It also includes a provision requiring the social media company TikTok to divest from China within a year.
The Ukraine aid passed with bipartisan support, but 112 Republicans — more than half of Republican lawmakers — voted against it. Most of the opposition wanted the aid linked to policies to stop the illegal immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border.
Opponents also balked at borrowing $95 billion to send overseas.
“With a record $35 trillion in debt and interest payments alone exceeding spending on all of national defense, I couldn’t support spending tens of billions in foreign aid without paying for it,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican who voted against Ukraine and Indo-Pacific aid but for the Israel aid.
Foreign aid, proponents say, is urgently needed to fight daunting adversaries. They liken the situation to the precipice of World War II and call Iran, Russia and China a new axis of evil.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, is leading the rebellion against Mr. Johnson and has filed a motion to vacate the chair, which would eject the speaker with a majority vote of the House.
SEE ALSO: Sen. Ted Cruz calls foreign aid package without border measures ‘disappointing’
She has not forced a vote on the motion but said Sunday that “it’s coming, regardless of what Mike Johnson decides to do.”
“Mike Johnson has betrayed America. He’s betrayed Republican voters. Under his leadership, he’s passed the Democrat agenda, passed the Biden administration’s policies, and fully funded them,” she said on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News. “We’re going to fight in Congress to do everything we can to stop this type of uniparty leadership.”
Other Biden-backed bills Mr. Johnson pushed through the House include the 2024 spending package and the renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s most powerful spy tool, which critics warn can be used against Americans.
Mr. Johnson said he won’t let threats from Republican rebels weigh on his decision-making.
“I don’t walk around this building being worried about a motion to vacate. I have to do my job,” he said. “I’ve done here what I believe to be the right thing, and that is to allow the House to work its will.”
After the vote, Mr. Biden thanked Mr. Johnson and House Democrats for bolstering national security by sending a clear message of strength to adversaries.
“It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia,” Mr. Biden said in a statement.
Only two other Republican lawmakers have signed on to Ms. Greene’s effort, but that would be enough to oust Mr. Johnson as speaker. Because of Republicans’ razor-thin majority, Mr. Johnson would need some House Democrats to save him.
After the vote Saturday, Republicans were infuriated by Democrats waving Ukrainian flags on the House floor.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, snagged a microphone at the lectern and shouted for Democrats to “put those damn flags down.” Rep. Lauren Boebert, Colorado Republican, berated her colleagues across the aisle.
“They’re saying that that is a national security priority and that’s why they’re waving these flags,” Ms. Boebert said. “No, our southern border, that is a national security priority. America is our priority. They want to go represent Ukraine? Go the hell on and represent Ukraine.”
Critics noted that the U.S. had already given Ukraine $75 billion since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The House voted to defeat several amendments, including Ms. Greene’s provision to kill all of the Ukraine funding and an amendment by Ukraine-born Rep. Victoria Spartz, Indiana Republican, that would have required more congressional oversight of the Ukraine aid disbursement.
The House voted to approve other amendments, including one offered by Rep. Zachary Nunn, Iowa Republican, that requires the Treasury Department to identify Iranian government assets of $5 million or more in the U.S.
Mr. Johnson tried to mollify conservatives by offering a separate border security bill based on the House-passed Secure the Border Act.
Democrats blocked the measure, and conservatives called it a fig leaf that excluded critical components of the House bill, including one requiring employers to use E-Verify to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants.
Mr. Johnson sought to appease Republican spending hawks by providing the Ukraine aid as a loan, but the measure lets the president, after congressional review, cancel some or all of the debt by 2026.
Republican critics said the $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Israel could end up in the hands of Hamas. Democratic opponents said Israel’s war against the terrorist group has killed thousands of civilians in Gaza.
The Israeli aid package passed 366-58 over the objections of 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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