After helping Democrats fund President Biden’s authoritarian regime for the rest of the year, House Speaker Mike Johnson is now gearing up to aimlessly dump more U.S. taxpayer money into Ukraine.
During a Sunday interview on Fox News, the weak-tea Louisiana Republican revealed several options for the House to ship tens of billions of dollars to Kyiv amid the latter’s ongoing conflict with Russia. The Senate previously passed a $95 billion foreign spending package in February that included funding for (mostly) Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan but zero provisions addressing America’s ongoing border invasion. The bill passed with the help of 22 Republican senators.
Among the ideas suggested by Johnson was using the REPO Act, which he claimed would allow for the sale of Russian sovereign assets frozen by the United States. As noted by The New York Times, “Only about $5 billion or so of Russian assets are in the hands of U.S. institutions.”
Congress advanced $113 billion for Ukraine in 2022 alone, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Another option considered by Johnson is a nonsensical plan backed by former President Trump to loan Ukraine the money and have the Eastern European nation pay it back to the U.S. at a later date. The idea has generated opposition and skepticism from some of the Senate’s more conservative members, such as Ohio’s J.D. Vance and Missouri’s Josh Hawley.
Johnson expressed interest in tying a provision to whatever Ukraine spending package is ultimately crafted that “would force President Biden to reverse a moratorium on liquefied natural gas exports,” according to the Times.
Given Republicans’ slim majority and expected opposition from members of the House Freedom Caucus, it’s likely Johnson will once again require Democrat support to get a potential Ukraine spending measure over the finish line. As The Federalist’s Sean Davis previously highlighted, every spending bill passed by the House under Johnson’s speakership has done so with more Democrat support than Republican.
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Most recently, the GOP House speaker colluded behind the scenes with Biden, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Democrat congressional leadership to ram through a series of government funding bills totaling more than $1 trillion. Of course, none of the measures included any meaningful conservative priorities or provisions stopping the Biden-facilitated border crisis.
Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a resolution seeking Johnson’s removal as speaker following the measure’s passage. It was around this time that Johnson pledged to move forward with authorizing additional U.S. funds for Ukraine.
Johnson and McConnell: Two Sides of the Same Ukrainian Coin
If Johnson’s obsession with bankrolling Ukraine’s forever war against Russia seems familiar, it’s because it’s the same “Ukraine First, America Last” mentality displayed by McConnell.
As if he were a character featured on TLC’s “My Strange Addiction,” McConnell’s sole focus has been on shipping billions of U.S. taxpayer funds to Kyiv since Moscow first invaded in February 2022. After dawning a Ukrainian flag-colored tie during Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address, for example, the Senate’s highest-ranking Republican went on Fox News to lecture voters on why “defeating the Russians in Ukraine is the single most important event going on in the world right now.”
McConnell’s Ukraine obsession has only worsened in the months that followed. During an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” in October, the Senate minority leader falsely claimed that sending additional U.S. supplies to Kyiv is a good thing because it would help “rebuild[] our industrial base.” In February, he lashed out at conservatives opposed to more Ukraine funding, contending they have “the dimmest and most shortsighted views of our obligations.”
McConnell most recently claimed during a radio interview that, despite his plans to step down from leadership at the end of the year, he is focused on “fighting back against the isolationist movement in my own party.”
“The symbol of that lately is, ‘Are we gonna help Ukraine or not?’” McConnell said.
Johnson is a Polished Version of McConnell
Despite his best attempts to feign outrage about the country’s biggest issues, Johnson isn’t any different from McConnell. The former’s repeated surrender on important budget fights and refusal to fight for conservative priorities demonstrates that he was never concerned about doing right by Republican voters.
The only difference between the two is that, unlike Johnson, McConnell doesn’t pander to the GOP base and pretend to be something he’s not. The Kentucky Republican regularly displays his disdain for conservatives and makes no secret of his efforts to sabotage their preferred candidates in elections — even if it means allowing the Democrat candidate to win.
Meanwhile, Johnson goes out of his way to portray himself as a principled conservative who cares about stopping the Democrats’ destructive agenda. In actuality, he’s been nothing but a rubber stamp for Biden, greenlighting every regime-supported bill that’s crossed his desk.
Both Johnson and McConnell are complicit in helping Democrats destroy the country. Until conservatives get active in GOP primaries and ensure Republicans like these never occupy positions of power again, they can continue to expect Congress to remain business as usual.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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