So one might have expected Mr. Johnson (R-Louisiana) to pass a Ukraine aid bill in November or December. Or January. Or so you know. It’s now March, and no aid package for Ukraine has yet passed the House of Representatives.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in November that he would use more than $300 billion in seized Russian assets to aid Ukraine. “It would be sheer poetry to fund the Ukrainian war effort with Russian assets,” he told the New York Post.
Nothing has been done in that regard either. “The president can quote and unquote this money and ‘spend’ Russian money,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday in response to a reporter’s question about the Russian billions. “Additional legislative authority from Congress is still needed to act.” In the way you’re talking. ” Apparently, no one in Congress has been able to get the ball rolling with legislative authority.
In an interview with Hannity in October of the same year, Mr. Johnson also vowed, “We will propose a unique funding package for Israel that will exceed $14 billion.” In early February, the House failed to pass a $17.6 billion standalone funding bill for Israel. That’s because the bill was introduced under a bill that requires a two-thirds majority.
Johnson met with Taiwan’s new American diplomat, Alexander Yui, in January and vowed to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Taiwan as it seeks to protect itself from Chinese military pressure. “We want to help defend Taiwan. That’s very important to us,” Johnson said. “We want to stop the Chinese Communist Party and any military provocations.”
However, the House of Representatives has not passed any aid to Taiwan.
Johnson said he wants to pass legislation to secure the U.S. southern border and more strictly enforce immigration laws. This is a perfectly reasonable priority given the disruption and strain on resources that immigrants are imposing on cities from coast to coast.
But when Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) proposed a joint proposal on foreign aid and border security, Johnson quickly rejected it without offering a counterproposal. Everything died and we were back to square one.
The Speaker continues to say he wants to pass key priorities, but that remains elusive. Johnson’s leadership approach has been described as “listen and then decide,” which sounds good in theory, but in practice so far has been closer to “listen and then decide not to pass.” .
Mr Johnson has now said he wants to avoid a partial government shutdown, which could come as early as this weekend, but his poor track record as chairman does not give him peace of mind. In what may be a small miracle, the House of Representatives has cut the March 8 deadline for federal funding as part of an agreement signed Wednesday between Mr. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. A vote is scheduled to be taken on a bill to extend the deadline until March 22nd. .Y.).
Granted, Johnson is hampered by a slim six-seat Republican majority to work with, but there are plenty of Democratic votes in the House of Commons willing to support aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. There are many Democrats who want to keep government open. But Mr. Johnson said that if his priority bill passes with Democratic votes, the same House Republican caucus that prematurely ended Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) term as speaker would oppose him. I know I’m likely to do the same. Some House Republicans apparently believe that fighting and threatening the speaker is the best use of their time.
But at some point, if you want to do something, make it like a Nike slogan and just do it. I can’t keep talking about how much I want to do it. What’s the point of controlling the House if you can’t pass legislation?