Faced with Republican pushback, House Speaker Johnson pushes for U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday defiantly and firmly pushed back against growing Republican anger over his proposed U.S. aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, rejecting calls for him to step down or risk a vote to remove him from office. Calls for his ouster.

“I will not resign,” Johnson said after a testy morning meeting with fellow House Republicans at the Capitol.

Johnson called himself the “wartime speaker” of the House of Representatives and said in his strongest self-defense that he would move forward with a U.S. national security aid package, a situation that would force him to rely on Democrats to help pass it. Opposed by his weak majority.

“We’re just here trying to do our job,” said Johnson, who called the motion to expel him “ridiculous … unhelpful.”

There was a clear shift in tone from House Republicans and the speaker himself on Tuesday at a critical moment as the embattled leader attempts to raise the votes needed to deliver a deadlocked nation to Israel, Ukraine and Ukraine, against the will of the majority. Security assistance. Access to other overseas allies.

Johnson was emboldened by his meeting with Donald Trump late last week, when the Republican former president gave him a nod of support after a private conversation at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A political lifeline. At a press conference on Tuesday, Johnson spoke of the importance of ensuring that Trump, who is facing a criminal trial in New York, is re-elected to the White House.

Johnson also spoke over the weekend with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders about the upcoming U.S. aid package, with speakers planning separate votes on each section, including bills targeting Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. He spoke to Biden again about the matter later Monday.

It’s a complicated approach that separates the Senate’s $95 billion aid package for separate votes and then puts it back together for the president’s signature.

Such an approach would require the speaker to piece together a bipartisan majority with different factions of House Republicans and Democrats on each measure. Additionally, Johnson is preparing a fourth measure that includes a variety of national security priorities prioritized by Republicans, such as a plan to seize some Russian assets in U.S. banks to help fund Ukraine and another plan to crack down on Ukraine’s economy. Aid is converted into loans.

The plan would not automatically block House and Senate Democrats from reaching a deal, and leaders would not comment until they see the actual text of the measure, which will be released later Tuesday.

House Republicans, however, are angry that Johnson has sidelined their top priority — efforts to strengthen U.S.-Mexico border security. Some predict Johnson will not be able to move forward with a planned vote on the package this week.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, a Republican representing Arizona, called the morning session a “fest of debate.”

She said Johnson would “absolutely” lose support for the plan, but he seemed undeterred and tried to move forward despite what the “majority of Republicans in the conference” wanted.

When a speaker said HR 2, House Republicans’ priority border security bill, would not be considered closely tied to the plan, lead sponsor Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said, It is for the House of Representatives to decide which articles are relevant to the amendment. .

“It’s not settled yet,” Roy said.

Roy said Republicans want to “unite. They just need to be able to figure out how to do that.”

The speaker faces an expulsion threat from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican who represents Georgia and is a top Trump ally, and she has introduced a motion calling for a quick vote Get the speaker out of office — just as Republicans ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last fall.

Although Greene has not said if or when she will force the issue, and her plan has not received much support after the chaos caused by McCarthy’s exit last year, she attracted at least one key backer on Tuesday.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who represents Kentucky, stood up during the meeting and suggested Johnson should step down, citing the example of earlier House Speaker John Boehner, who announced in 2015 Resign early rather than risk voting to remove him. That’s according to Republicans in the room.

Johnson did not respond, but told lawmakers they had a “binary” choice before them, according to Republicans present.

The speaker explained that they could either try to pass his proposed package or risk Democrats filing a dissolution petition, which would force them to vote on their preferred package, a Senate-approved measure. But that would leave additional priorities for Republicans.