House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s (R-LA) $95 billion foreign aid bill hits its final stage on Saturday and will also test whether bipartisan could cost him his job.
After a rule vote to bring the Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and humanitarian support bill to the floor passed with predominantly Democratic votes on Friday, hard-line House Republicans were quick to blast Johnson for going against the conference. More members are now open to the idea of a motion to vacate the speaker, particularly over the Ukraine aid bill and a lack of border security measures in the legislation.
The fracturing of the GOP conference will come to a head as the House prepares for a vote Saturday on three separate aid bills to Ukraine, Israel, and Indo-Pacific nations, as well as sanctions and the already-passed TikTok divestiture legislation in a fourth bill. A fifth bill will address border security, but some conservative measures have slammed it as weak and missing the mark.
“I voted against the rule because we’re voting to secure other countries before we are America. That’s wrong, in a sense,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said following Friday’s rule vote. “We’ll see how it plays out. Evidently, the Democrats are gonna switch and vote for it.”
“They wanted Ukraine the whole time. Ukraine has been our leverage to use to get border security, and we basically gave it away,” Norman said.
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. However, not all hard-line conservatives support a motion to vacate the chair despite feeling frustrated with the speaker.
With six months until the 2024 election and a growing list of resignations, some conservatives instead advocate a leadership election after November rather than kicking off a prolonged leadership fight.
“I don’t know that Mike [Johnson] will want it after what he’s been through. 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,” Norman said.
“So, my opinion: I’m not gonna sign on to a motion to vacate. I hope Marjorie doesn’t. It’s up to her,” Norman added regarding Greene possibly moving her motion forward.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) echoed Norman, adding that though Republicans elected a speaker “who has failed us,” he does not think vacating Johnson is in the best interest of the party.
“I don’t defend the actions that have been taken, including today,” Good said Friday. “I think this is a terrible mistake. However, that doesn’t mean that I support what I would consider to be not the most prudent action right now.”
Good also mentioned the razor-thin majority that could worsen with “one or two more resignations.”
“I hope they will not move forward with that,” Good said. “My hope would be that we will do the best we can between now and November to convince the American people to vote for us.”
Voting on the foreign aid bill is set to take place Saturday afternoon. With Democrats helping the rule pass 316-94, it is likely Democrats will once again be the ones helping Johnson pass the legislation. Some, like Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT), are excited to see bipartisanship in play.
Himes said by allowing a tiny minority of people to control the House chamber, “you end up forcing a bipartisan coalition, which is what you just saw, which is what you’re gonna see tomorrow.”
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“I’m delighted because I never imagined that in the minority, I might be part of a, you know, constructive, forward-moving bipartisan coalition,” Himes said. “All those words make me happy.”
“A lot of Democrats were saying, ‘Wait, if this situation would reverse when we get a single Republican vote on a rule,’ so there was a lot of conversation about that,” Himes admitted. “But you know, you just saw what we did, which is we’re going to do what we need to do to make good policy.”
