House Republicans are split on whether to appreciate Speaker Mike Johnson‘s (R-LA) tenaciousness in crafting a foreign aid package or criticize him for betraying the conference, as recent GOP-led bills have passed with a majority of Democratic votes.
Those sentiments were on full display on Friday following the procedural rule vote to bring the four-pronged foreign aid proposal to the floor for a vote Saturday. It passed, 316 to 94, but over 50 House Republicans voted against the rule — a procedure that historically passes along party lines but has recently been weaponized by some GOP members to stall any legislation with which they do not agree.
Needing Democrats to pass the rule, and likely the legislation itself on Saturday, appears to be another nail in the coffin for Johnson, as Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) joined Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) in co-sponsoring a motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership.
Some House Republicans have already come out in support of Johnson since he unveiled his four-bill plan earlier this week. Ahead of the rule vote on Friday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) said several people met with the speaker ahead of time to tell him “what was at stake.”
“I feel this is a sense of moral courage. He’s a man of faith,” McCaul said. “You want to be on the right side of history.”
McCaul said he was with Johnson the night before the bills’ text dropped.
“He said he went home, prayed about it, and he said, ‘I’m going to do the right thing,’” McCaul said.
“You know, a job’s not worth doing the wrong thing,” the Texas Republican said.
Other members remarked on Johnson’s “courage” following the vote. House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT) said that though he does not agree with the speaker on “anything politically,” he praised Johnson for having integrity and for thinking about the “good of the world.”
“He said he was going to do this, and I think that he has migrated from a backbencher to a leader,” Himes said to reporters. “You know, and the definition of leadership that I think is most functional around here is, you know, disappointing your supporters at a sustainable rate. And I think that he sort of stepped up to be a leader.”
Some House Republicans in the Freedom Caucus, the coalition of GOP members who have been most vocally opposed to Johnson’s plan, acknowledged Johnson for sticking to his principles but did not think it reflected the will of the conservative conference.
“He’s obviously very committed to his cause,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said. “And that’s refreshing. Unfortunately, it’s just not the same cause that I’m committed to.”
Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), who voted against the rule Friday, admitted that Johnson is in a “tight spot” but accused him of catering to the “swamp” of Washington politics.
“If you mean courageous by putting his career on the line, then absolutely, he’s being courageous,” Crane told reporters. “I don’t think he is being courageous — I think the exact opposite. I think he’s fallen right in line with what the swamp, what the uniparty, expects from its leadership: that you will fall in line and you will put Americans last.”
“I’ve said it since I got here, I’ll continue to say it: This is not a conservative body. It’s not a conservative conference,” Crane continued, adding that there is “no world” where he is going to get a speaker that he wants.
Whether Republicans wait until November to hold a leadership election or vacate the chair now remains to be seen. Greene could file her motion to vacate as early as Saturday, leaving him a choice to resign or stand for a vote in which Democrats could save his speakership.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who was one of the three Republicans who voted against the rule in the Rules Committee meeting Thursday night, noted that Johnson may not even want the job after all of the discourse and chaos that fell into his lap over the last few months.
“He’s gone through a lot,” Norman said. “He’s doing in his mind what he thinks is best. I will not criticize him. I disagree with him. I’m not going to criticize him.”
“He’s taken a lot of heat, and to his credit, he stepped up to the job. Who else wanted it? I don’t see a line of people wanting to be speaker at this point,” the congressman continued.
He added that vacating Johnson six months before an election is not a good idea because “this country has got too many things that are awful coming our way.”
As a motion to vacate hovers over Johnson’s head, eyes will be on the House to see whether Democrats once again provide the majority of the votes to pass the four foreign aid bills. Following the rule vote, Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) slammed the Ukraine aid bill for sowing division within the GOP ranks that will likely “once again” pass a bill with predominantly Democratic votes.
“Funding Ukraine divides the country. It divides Republicans tremendously, divides the Republican conference as evidenced by the vote today just a moment ago. And so that should not be our starting point, to do what the Democrats want to do,” Good said.
However, Democrats are preparing to bring the votes forward. Former Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said that Democrats “agreed with the objective” and that foreign aid to U.S. allies is “not a partisan issue.”
“When the speaker proposes something that we think is good for the country, we’re not going to arbitrarily oppose it because it happens to be a Republican proposal,” Hoyer said.
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Hoyer also blasted Republicans for getting Johnson to believe his job is on the line for bringing the foreign aid bills forward.
“The people who are giving them that message undermine his ability to act with his own majority because he does not have a majority,” the former majority leader said. “And the people who are criticizing him for doing what he’s done have made that the only alternative he had.”
