House Dissatisfaction with Johnson Explodes over Foreign Aid ‘Insanity’ that Neglects Southern Border
House Republicans’ dissatisfaction with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is rapidly growing as Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Jim Banks (R-IN) are sharing their frustrations about what Banks called “insanity” in Johnson’s foreign aid framework, which includes over three times as much money for Ukraine as it does for Israel while neglecting the U.S. Southern border.
Perry took to X Tuesday to share an image of the framework, showing the bills allocate $48.83 billion to Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel, $2.4 billion for “Red Sea Operations,” $2.58 billion for “INDOPACOM,” and $3.3 billion for a “Submarine Industrial Base.”
Notice anything missing? @SpeakerJohnson failed to incorporate any border security into any of the FOUR of the bills he’s going to ram down our throats this week.
On more than half a dozen occasions in the last six months, he promised the American People this wouldn’t happen. pic.twitter.com/0QJJyw90hQ
— Rep. Scott Perry (@RepScottPerry) April 16, 2024
“Notice anything missing?” wrote Perry. Speaker Johnson “failed to incorporate any border security into any of the FOUR of the bills he’s going to ram down our throats this week.”
“On more than half a dozen occasions in the last six months, he promised the American People this wouldn’t happen,” Perry added.
Sharing Perry’s tweet, Banks called the package “Insanity,” emphasizing the plan would send three times as much money to Ukraine as it does Israel while simultaneously neglecting the U.S. Southern border.
Over 3x as much $$ for Ukraine as Israel. Zero $$$ to secure our own border. Insanity. https://t.co/6Uaq0Ax1OI
— Jim Banks (@Jim_Banks) April 16, 2024
Perry and Banks’ criticism of the four bills comes as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who filed a motion to vacate against Johnson ahead of Easter break, and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) signaled opposition to the multiple-impact reentry vehicles rule (MIRV) that Johnson seeks to merge the bills.
“Israel funding should not be held hostage by Ukraine funding. The American people deserve to know where their senators stand on each funding component,” Biggs wrote in a post on X
“MIRV—the process used to merge the bills—is about as ridiculous as ranked choice voting. The least popular option is the one that wins,” he added.
Greene declared she would vote against the rule, and with just a one-seat majority and growing Republican opposition, Johnson would need help from Democrats to get the rule passed to unlock votes for the aid.
Meanwhile, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) became a cosponsor of Greene’s motion to vacate the chair on Tuesday and urged the speaker to resign in the morning.
I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the Motion to Vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG.
He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 16, 2024
After Massie announced on X that he advised Johnson to resign and that he was behind Greene’s motion to vacate, American Tribune co-founder Jason Robertson asked Massie, “What was the straw that broke the Camel’s Back? FISA? Foreign War Funding? Spending more than Nancy Pelosi? All of the above?”
Whoa. What was the straw that broke the Camel’s Back?
FISA? Foreign War Funding? Spending more than Nancy Pelosi?
All of the above?
— Jason Robertson (@JRobFromMN) April 16, 2024
“All of the above,” Massie replied. “This camel has a pallet of bricks.”
However, a defiant Johnson declared he would not step down in the afternoon.
“I am not resigning, and it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs,” Johnson declared.
As Greene’s motion to vacate is not privileged, the House does not need to take it up immediately. Greene can make it privileged whenever she likes, which would force the House to consider it within two days.
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