Johnson vows Ukraine aid vote, details to come

How Mike Johnson handles Ukraine funding could determine whether he keeps his job

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

published 1 April 2024

What happened

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will bring a Ukraine aid bill to the floor after the House returns April 9, Johnson said Sunday.

Who said what

"When we return," Johnson said on Fox News, "we'll be moving" a Ukraine bill with "some important innovations." It's "very likely that after this Ukraine bill," Republicans "may have a standoff with the speaker," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who supports Ukraine funding, said to NBC. "It's possible" he'll be ousted.

The commentary

The holdup of aid by "Mr. Johnson will really cost thousands of lives there — children, women," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in Washington in March. "He must be aware of his personal responsibility."

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What next?

Democrats say "they will save Johnson if he moves a Ukraine bill they can support," but if not "he risks putting off both Democrats and right-wing Republicans," CNN said. Any bill that differs from what the Senate passed in February would ping-pong back to the upper chamber, causing "additional delays," ammunition rationing and lost "towns and lives," said Doug Klain at the Atlantic Council.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.