Speaker Johnson Earns Praise for Acting on Conviction, Not Buckling to Threats
After months of delay, the House with bipartisan majorities passed a $95 billion national security spending bill coupled with legislation to ban TikTok unless its Chinese owner divests within the next year.
The Senate is scheduled to start voting on the package Tuesday and President Biden has indicated he will sign the package that includes aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Pentagon officials said they have a substantial package of arms “ready to go” that could arrive in Ukraine within a week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC’s Meet the Press thanked House members and said his soldiers are outgunned and “lack equipment they need to fight Russian reconnaissance drones, which essentially guide their artillery.” He also said Ukrainian forces lack long-range weapons and adequate air defenses. Press reports indicate Ukrainian frontline troops are receiving rations of eight to 10 bullets per day as Russian forces slowly advance.
Despite pressure from the far-right of the House Republican caucus, the individual pieces of the package assembled by Speaker Mike Johnson passed with bipartisan majorities. The vote on aid to Ukraine was 311-112.
“Mike Johnson is a lame duck … he’s done,” Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said after the vote on aid to Ukraine. Greene and two other GOP conservatives have signed a motion to oust Johnson.
Speaking on CBS’ Face the Nation, Oklahoma Republican Congressman Tom Cole dismissed the likelihood of Johnson being removed. He said his caucus learned its lesson when it took three weeks to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy after he was ousted. “I’m sorry, democracy is kind of a messy business, and the reality is, it’s done,” Cole said.
Trump and Mixed Messages
Former President Donald Trump has sent mixed messages on Ukraine. He says Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if he was still in office and promised to end the current warfare quickly by forcing Ukraine to cede land to Russia. However, before the House vote, Trump posted on social media his support for Johnson’s four-part plan and for the “survival” of Ukraine.
Johnson, who personally met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago before unveiling his compromise package, may have convinced the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee to take a more conciliatory view. Johnson added a provision in the TikTok ban bill that could convert a portion of the latest round of aid to Ukraine into a forgivable loan, an idea Trump looked on favorably. The measure also contained authorization to seize $5 billion in Russian assets to pay for Ukrainian military aid.
“We’re talking about real history, we’re talking
about whether Russia potentially occupies Ukraine.”
Johnson’s Journey as Rookie Speaker
Johnson represents Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District, which along with adjoining districts has been modified to comply with court rulings to create a district with a majority Black population. His current district voted overwhelmingly for Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
Before becoming speaker, Johnson was part of the conservative House wing that opposed further aid to Ukraine. After the Senate, on a 70-29 vote, approved a $95 billion national security spending bill in February, Johnson put the bill on ice in the House.
Part of the reason for the delay was the ongoing inability to pass Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations. Johnson managed to negotiate compromises with Senate Democrats and Biden that led to bipartisan support for spending bills, despite conservative Republican opposition, which sought to block the bills from House floor votes.
After a two-week recess, Johnson returned to Washington ready to deal with the national security spending package requested by Biden last year after authority to provide more aid to Ukraine had expired.
As recounted by The Associated Press, “Johnson met with his colleagues late into the night [last] week at the speaker’s office and they prayed on it. ‘And then he told me the next day: I want to be on the right side of history,’ recalled Texas Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, chair of House Foreign Affairs.”
Johnson’s willingness to turn to Democrats for votes earned kudos from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was the first of a string of House Republicans to be chased out of their office. Gingrich praised Johnson for “not being cowed by hard-right Republicans seeking to remove him from office.” “This is the U.S. House. This is not a political playground,” he said. “We’re talking about real history, we’re talking about whether Russia potentially occupies Ukraine.”
Johnson received indirect praise from House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York who called Johnson’s choice of moving a national security spending package “a Churchill or Chamberlain moment,” referring to Churchill’s insistence on preparing for war against Hitler’s Germany rather than Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement .
Johnson showed veteran political savvy by not only trying to mollify Trump’s opposition, but to speak privately with Biden to elicit his quick and firm support for his national security package, which Biden provided.
“We’re talking about real history, we’re talking about whether Russia potentially occupies Ukraine.”
Johnson’s Personal Conviction
“History judges us for what we do,” Johnson said during an impromptu press conference in Statuary Hall. “I could make a selfish decision and do something that’s different, but I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing.”
“To put it bluntly, I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” Johnson said. “This is a live-fire exercise for me, as it is so many American families. This is not a game. This is not a joke.”
Johnson made his comments after disclosing his son is headed to the Naval Academy this fall.
Congress Extends Surveillance Law
The Senate voted early Saturday to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, for two years. The post 9/11 statute is mostly known – and controversial – because of Section 702 that permits warrantless surveillance, which privacy advocates strongly oppose.
Like the national security package, the FISA extension came just as its provisions were set to expire over the weekend. The House had difficulty passing the legislative extension after Trump ordered “Kill FISA”. Johnson once again found a work-around by proposing a two-year extension instead of five years that allowed
The extension includes what supporters described as modifications to prevent abuse. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said the legislation was “horribly drafted” and would authorize sweeping surveillance in the future.
Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, touted the modifications during his appearance Sunday on Face the Nation, but also pledged to continue working on further fixes. Privacy advocates claim the legislation’s modifications will make the situation worse.
Attorney General Merrick Garland called Section 702 “indispensable to the Justice Department’s work to protect the American people from terrorists, nation-state cyber-attacks and other attacks.” Federal officials say Section 702 authority has played a critical role in interdicting illegal drug shipments.
There have been incidents in the past in which the FBI abused use of warrantless surveillance on U.S. citizens, which is not permitted under FISA.
