House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continues to face serious backlash from members of his own party after pushing for the passage of a controversial foreign aid bill earlier this month. The vast majority of taxpayer funding contained in the $95 billion package is earmarked for Ukraine, and the legislation passed over the objection of many Republican lawmakers who believe the U.S. has already spent too much to prop up the Ukrainian military in its war against Russia.
In addition to arguments that the U.S. government should instead focus on protecting its own border and meeting other pressing domestic needs, many critics of the seemingly insatiable demand for more foreign aid point to evidence of rampant corruption within the Ukrainian government as a reason to curtail further assistance.
This is evidence of deep corruption. It's hard to imagine what I'm seeing. There are credible reports that the money in Ukraine is misused. Beside that, there is no reason at all for us to be sending money there to fight a proxy war Ukraine cannot win. pic.twitter.com/xbWcTxcpiK
— Jim Pfaff (@jimpfaff) April 20, 2024
A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that opposition to the continuous stream of U.S. aid is not limited to the GOP. Nearly three-fifths of respondents said the U.S. government spends too much on foreign assistance.
Fewer than one-fourth of those polled said the amount is “about right” and just 10% said America is not spending enough.
A chorus of House Republicans spoke out against Johnson’s push for the latest foreign aid package, including some who offered some level of endorsement for a vote that could eject him from the leadership position.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) stopped short of calling for such a vote, which would have come just months after Johnson was selected to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), himself having been ousted following a vote initiated by a member of his own party.
Nevertheless, Greene was among several House Republicans who decried the current speaker’s actions.
“I’m thankful that America gets to see who this man is,” she said shortly after the foreign aid package passed. “He’s already a lame duck. If we have the vote today in our conference, he would not be speaker today.”
Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), who voted along with seven other Republicans to vacate the speaker’s chair when McCarthy held it, asserted that “it’s tough to defend” Johnson.
I definitely sense that there’s a souring to Republican leadership,” he added.
