Mike Johnson, speaker of the US House of Representatives, said he would move forward with the Ukraine bill – now separate from other foreign aid – amid threats from hardline Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust him because of the bill’s support for Ukraine.
Following the latest development, the foreign aid would be broken down into four separate bills for Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific region, and a separate package for national security measures respectively.
Johnson’s challenge to Greene comes on the heels of a meeting Friday, April 12 with Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate. Trump backed Johnson, saying: “He is doing a very good job. And I’m sure that Marjorie [Taylor Greene] understands that. She’s a very good friend of mine. And I know she has a lot of respect for the speaker.”
In the wake of Trump’s support and despite criticism from Ukraine supporters that the delay in the House was a ploy to prevent giving President Joe Biden anything that could be construed as a victory, Johnson emphasized he was “doing the right thing” even if that would cost him his job.
“Listen, my philosophy is you do the right thing and you let the chips fall where they may… If I operated out of fear over a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job.
“Look, history judges us for what we do. This is a critical time right now… I can make a selfish decision and do something that’s different. But I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing.
Kharkiv Region Under Attack: Russian Strike with Guided Bombs Leaves Two Dead and Six Injured
“I think providing critical aid to Ukraine right now is critically important,” said Johnson at a news conference, adding that he “[believes] Vladimir Putin is an evil regime” and that Putin’s ambition goes beyond Ukraine.
“Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed. I think he might go to the Balkans [sic] next, I think he might have a showdown with Poland or one of our NATO allies.
“To put it bluntly, I’d rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” said Johnson, adding that his own son would start attending the Naval Academy this year, and the current development is “a live fire exercise” for him “as it is so many American families.”
According to Johnson, the new amendments to the Ukraine bill would entail more accountability where the government has to provide “within 45 days” a solid plan and strategy on achieving the goals.
Under the new bill, fundings to the Ukrainian government would also be in the form of a loan, where a clause stated that it could potentially be “forgiven” by the US president in 2026.
As for frozen Russian assets, Johnson said the new Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act (REPO Act) would fall under another bill concerning national securities, where “corrupt Russian oligarch’s assets” could be used to “fund the resistance in Ukraine.”
“Using corrupt Russian oligarchs assets to fund the resistance of the Ukrainians is pure poetry in my view,” said Johnson.
The US aid package for Ukraine has been stalled in Congress for months due to a split within the Republican Party over Ukraine aid, where some hardline Republicans have opposed the bill and threatened to oust Johnson should he decide to move forward with it.
Johnson’s comments came amid an acute weapon and ammunition shortage suffered by Kyiv at present, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly stated that there are “zero missiles left” for air defense, which has enabled Moscow to seize the opportunity and wage a new offensive on Ukrainian positions.
“The current ratio of artillery shells stands at 1 to 10. Can we endure for much longer? No,” Zelensky said.
Due to the shortage, Moscow has also been able to wipe out almost all of Ukraine’s thermal power generation and all critical energy infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city bordering Russia.
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Comments (10)
It has been the right thing to do for the last 6 months. Has Johnson had an epiphany on the road to Damascus?
Mini-Mike finally does the right thing. Wonders will never cease. Presumably it's the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Slava Ukraini!
If this low amount of funding to Ukraine is not going to crush the Russians and gain back the entire territory of Ukraine for Ukrainians, you can only realize the Biden and Republicans don't care about victory for Ukraine. Macron is correct, Europe has to wake up before it is vassalized by Washington.
Republicans waited for Europe to purchase the supply of 155 shells, estimates of 800K - 1 million+, starting delivery in June, to then send aid to Ukraine.
When Ukraine needed those 155 mm shells for 6 months, US did not deliver. Only blocked Ukraine aid while the Russians got victory after victory. The loss of Ukrainian territory is the US's fault. The Budapest Memorandum was signed by the Anglo-Americans, the security assurances were given by the UK and US to provide assistance to defend the borders of Ukraine and territorial integrity if Ukraine gave away their nukes. Washington deliberately dropped the ball, and when Europe secures 800K - 1 million or more shells for Ukraine, then US rushes in to claim hegemony over Europe, which is the only thing Washington cares about.
The cia trolls below show what the aid is about (155 shells), it is about beating the Europeans to defending Ukraine, not about crushing the Russians, which neither MAGA Republicans nor Biden would ever do. Takes hundreds of billions in military aid in 2022 to crush the Russians and more so in 2024.
This little amount of Ukraine aid is not going to totally destroy the Russian forces in Ukraine.
Break up the Russian Federation. Free Europe.
Where are the 155mm shells from Europe ???
Just listen to all the dumb farts below.
@Imokru2, assholes every last one.
Maybe putin changed the brand of intimate soap and johnson doesn't like it?
This is only about save face of 'murica, 'murica numero uno. Biden and Republicans have done as little as possible, while getting the press of "defender of democracy" - 'murica leader of the globe.
When Ukraine loses Crimea, Donbas and elsewhere, know that America lost Europe. Europe has to step up to replace MAGA America and the do nothing Democrats (no no-fly-zone in 2022 as we saw over Jordan in destroying Iranian drones, no F16s in 2022, no enough weapons to crush the Russia in 2022). Ukraine receives from America enough weapons to keep fighting, not to take back the full Ukraine. 31 Abrams, no fighter jets for how America wins - with air power and missiles. Ukraine is unimportant to MAGA and not vital to Democrats or else Russia would have been defeated in 2022 when Russia was weaker.
A few tens of billions for Ukraine is a joke.
Marjorie Taylor Green has more Nazis and Skinheads right in the state of Georgia to deal with. Her Nazi rant on Ukraine shows how utterly ignorant she and her comrades in DC are. In fact, there are many fascists who vote Republican in USA.
Of course, there are as many Marxists who vote Democrat in USA, so we're just a carbon copy of 20th century Europe.
I don't trust Johnson.
His boss putinrump has commanded stalling aid for over 6 months. Every excuse for stalling debunked. Some like giving the House weeks of breaks in the middle of a crisis were cruel. Some like prioritizing more frivolous bills insulting. Some like the border needing to be fixed first, only to later refuse to approve such a bill, clearly showing the MRGA is aligned to putins needs.
The costs increasingly defenceless Ukraine has endured in these lost 6 months are horrendous. Still aid is most welcome even now as it buys time.
But consider this: The justification Johnson now provides for finally helping Ukraine were justifications in place 6 months ago. What purpose did this delay serve other then propel Putin to take advantage of Ukraine's weakened state?
I suspect putin has finally realized he will not have a chance in hell of a second MRGA presidency unless putintrumps pretends he cares about Ukraine. The benefit to putin of a putinrump win in November, exceeds the value of Russia winning in Ukraine in the interim. Apparently this dangled loan "could be forgiven" by a future president post 2026. Why not next month?
@John, while being absolutely right about your mistrust of Johnson, there is likely something else at play here concerning Johnson's apparent reversal.
It is widely known that Johnson practices a form of Christianity (Evangelical Southern Baptist) that is almost unrecognizable to most mainstream Christians around the world. One feature of his type of faith is a deep and enduring commitment for the protection of the 'Israelites.' The reasoning for this is very weird, so I won't get into it, just know this belief burns inside people like Johnson.
The informed intuition of many politically-attentive Americans is that Johnson likens himself to Saul - the disciple of Jesus who, when persecuting Christians, rode his ass (the mule, not the body part) toward Damascus when he was blinded by a light. Falling to the ground, Saul heard God's voice imploring him to stop persecuting the followers of Jesus and to spread God's message.
Well ... this could very well be Johnson's motivation to come to Israel (and by extension Ukraine's) aid. Simply put old Speaker Johnson just fell off his ass and has seen the light.
@Coach John, please see a shrink asap.
Whisper , whisper , whisper my dear ,
God is so lovingly close and near ,
The ground has an ear ,
And it can deeply hear ,
What you say sounds a voice so clear,
before the clouds shed an enormous tear ,
The winds would put a gear ,
With divine mercy , have no place for fear ...
Rivers can flow with water in a vessel swiftly in a path to steer,
Energy goes with life in a stream,
They water the lands every year ,
Merrily everywhere in the now here...
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