Mike Johnson Is No Hero

Before House Speaker Mike Johnson basks too deeply in the praise he’s received for bringing the security assistance bill to the floor, where it passed by a predictably wide margin, we should recall that the bill would have passed six months ago had it not been for Johnson’s cowardly submission to the pressure of former (and possibly future) President Donald Trump.

Had Johnson acted like a leader back in October, when President Joe Biden proposed the bill, fewer Ukrainians would have died, less Ukrainian land would have been ceded to Russian soldiers, Russia would not have gained the momentum it’s picked up in this long and grueling war, and the United States would not now be seen by some—as a result of Trump’s and Johnson’s resistance to aiding Ukraine in its dire moment—as a less-than-reliable ally.

Johnson may have risked losing his speakership because he reached out to Democrats—a cardinal sin in the eyes of extremist House Republicans—in order to pass the package. He said, “My philosophy is do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may… History judges us for what we do. This is a critical time right now.” Noble words for an ignoble political era, but it was an equally critical time six months ago, and history should also judge him for what he did not do back then.

It was on Oct. 20—exactly six months before the House vote on Saturday—that Biden proposed a $106 billion emergency supplemental bill consisting of $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel, and $2 billion for Taiwan, plus $9.15 billion for humanitarian supplies to Gaza. As a way of attracting America First Republicans, Biden tossed in $13.6 billion to enhance security on America’s southern border with Mexico.

Biden’s bonus, with its billions for extra border guards, wasn’t good enough. In order to get more aid to Ukraine, the Republicans said Biden and Democrats would need to make serious changes to border policy. Democrats in the Senate agreed to negotiate with their Republican counterparts. The Ukrainians were running out of ammunition; Russia could win the war. Preventing that was deemed urgent above all else.

Senate Democrats and Republicans shook hands on a border security deal, in exchange for foreign aid, earlier this year. That should have settled matters. But as soon as the deal was struck, Johnson said the proposal would never get a vote on the House floor. He had consulted with Trump, the Republican Party’s real leader. Trump had been hammering away at the crisis on the border; it was his most popular stance in his campaign to regain the White House. A stricter border bill, passed by Congress and signed by Biden, would undermine Trump’s campaign and boost Biden’s. That was to be avoided at all cost.

So, Johnson would let the border crisis simmer until after the November election, if that’s what it took.

The Senate abandoned its negotiated border proposal and passed a security assistance bill very similar to Biden’s October request in February. For months, it went nowhere in the Johnson’s House. House Democrats started exploring a way around Johnson’s obstruction. Under House rules, a majority of members could sign a “discharge” petition, which would force a bill onto the floor for a vote, regardless of the speaker’s aims. But by this time, Israel’s excessive bombing in Gaza—inflicting tens of thousands of civilian casualties—had turned many Democrats against more military aid for Israel. Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, would have a hard time mustering a majority to support a bill that helped the armies of Ukraine and Israel.

Then, suddenly, Johnson experienced his epiphany. On Friday, he proposed a rule to allow the security-aid package to come up for a vote. It passed overwhelmingly, 316–94. Then he did something clever. Gaza had changed the equations. Some left-wing Democrats, while still proponents of aid for Ukraine, were now against more weapons for Israel. Meanwhile, Trump Republicans still opposed continuing aid for Ukraine. It might be impossible to form a coalition large enough to pass a bill that helped both. So Johnson broke up Biden’s package into three separate bills—one for Ukraine, one for Israel, one for Taiwan.

As it happened, the caution wasn’t necessary. All three bills passed by enormous margins with bipartisan support. Aid to Ukraine passed by 311–112; to Israel, by 366–58; and to Taiwan, by 385–34.

The Democrats were necessary for the Ukraine vote, as a majority of Republicans, 112–101, voted against it. The Democrats voted unanimously in favor of aid to Ukraine and Taiwan. On the Israel vote, 37 Democrats (about one-third of the party’s “progressive” wing) and 21 Republicans (about half of the GOP’s hard-right faction) voted Nay; 34 Republicans voted against more aid for Taiwan.

The big message here was that all of these bills—considered separately or as one package—would have passed at any point in the past six months, if only Johnson had worked up the nerve to ignore Trump and put them on the floor for a vote.

Some of the Republicans who voted against aid to Ukraine said, during Saturday’s floor debate, that it was more important to secure our own border. They thus ignored the fact that, a few months earlier, Biden and the Democrats had agreed to a border-security proposal in exchange for Ukraine aid—but the Republicans rejected the trade.

More tellingly, there was no vote on Saturday for tougher border security. Even the small amount in Biden’s original package was removed. On that matter, Johnson acted in the interests of Trump’s presidential campaign. The speaker did, however, put up a bill to ban TikTok if China remained the owner. It passed 360–58.

Why did Johnson allow any of this to come to the floor? Maybe Trump, distracted by his criminal trial in New York, had let up on the pressure. Maybe Johnson was moved by CIA Director William Burns’ testimony that Ukraine could lose the war by the end of the year if money wasn’t freed for more ammunition, air-defense weapons, and long-range missiles right away. (House Republicans indulge in showmanship most of the time, but when they see that their antics might damage the world, even they—some of them anyway—can straighten up and act like adults.) Johnson explained that he had prayed for guidance, although he has long said that he prays a lot. Why God advised him to allow a vote this past weekend, but remained silent on this six months ago, is a mystery.

Whatever the cause of the flip, the months of bluff and delay are inexcusable. By the time the weapons get to Ukraine, it may be too late. If they do arrive in time for the Ukrainians to block the Russian offensive and perhaps turn things around, it will have been a close call. Either way, the whole episode should weigh on the consciences of every Republican in and out of Congress—and raise questions anew, if they hadn’t been raised high enough already, of Trump’s suitability to be, once again, the commander in chief.