Commentary

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, left, and President Joe Biden, right, attend the annual National Prayer Breakfast in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 1. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

Biden Backs Speaker Mike Johnson's Ukraine Aid Plan, Which Puts Americans Last Once Again

By Laura Wellington April 18, 2024 at 8:19am

That didn’t take long, now did it? Louisiana Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was supposed to protect American’s money and national interests, not join President Joe Biden and Democrats in their charge to give more of it away.

Yet on Wednesday, Johnson decided to add to the $34 trillion in national debt by proposing three separate bills providing aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific — and he’s got Biden’s blessing in doing so. I’d like to know where that money is actually coming from as American taxpayers pockets are fresh out.

People are skipping eating just to make mortgage payments. Fifty-seven percent of young adults between the age of 18-24 have moved back home, the largest number since the Great Depression. Over 8 million illegals have already flooded our borders and are now demanding Americans continue to pay for their free and easy lifestyles. Squatters are overtaking vacant homes. Pawn shops are at capacity due to people selling their things merely to survive. Americans are taking on extra shifts, second jobs, and dipping into their savings out of desperation.

None of that speaks to extra money to help anyone else. Biden and the Democrats have been driving the United States into the ground with the open checkbook they seem to think they have, and now Johnson has joined them.

According to The Hill, Biden responded to Johnson’s proposal with the following, “The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow. I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”

“I strongly support this package to get critical support to Israel and Ukraine, provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Israel is facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine is facing continued bombardment from Russia that has intensified dramatically in the last month,” the president continued.

Johnson’s plan includes four bills in total, with the fourth comprised of many Republican priorities, including a ban or sale of TikTok. According to the Wall Street Journal, the “$95 billion aid package … largely matches the price tag and contours of a measure that passed the Democratic-controlled Senate earlier this year.”

The difference is that it is broken out in four bills allowing for hard-line Republicans like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to veto sending aid abroad, without killing the national security priorities embedded in another bill. Already keen on removing Johnson from the speakership, Greene now has the commitment of Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie if she puts forth a formal motion.

Do you think Mike Johnson is a good speaker?

As the bills don’t address any security measures at the border or border policy at all, plenty of Republicans are angry. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles believes Johnson is giving up a significant negotiation tool without addressing the border crisis in these bills. Part of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, he believes that Ukraine should look for its money elsewhere.

Having already been given a whopping $113 billion from the United States, with no accounting to be had but lots of rumors of squandering and money laundering instead, the notion that Johnson is pushing forth any bill to give Ukraine more is dumbfounding. What exactly has happened to Mike Johnson since he took on the role of speaker?

One comment on X appropriately shared just how fed up the American people are by this constant aid to everyone but our nation: “Do you see what is happening? Iran shot missiles at Israel, and the US government want to use that as an excuse to justify sending $50 billion more to Ukraine. MAGA GOP just recently removed McCarthy as Speaker over funding for Ukraine. Looks like it’s time to do it again.”

Do you see what is happening?

Iran shot missiles at Israel, and the US government want to use that as an excuse to justify sending $50 billion more to Ukraine.

MAGA GOP just recently removed McCarthy as Speaker over funding for Ukraine.

Looks like it’s time to do it again. pic.twitter.com/ZHr8RdVGkM

— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) April 17, 2024

Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna also gave her thoughts on funding Ukraine over caring for the American people. She said in an interview with Neil Cavuto of Fox News, “We are not here to see [Speaker Johnson] fail, but we have to deliver wins for the American people. And when you have an open border, when you have a war in Israel where our administration is not backing our ally, and then you’re seeing the financial drain on this country with a request for more and more funding for Ukraine, I just don’t think that’s sustainable.”

We are here to deliver wins for the American people. We can’t talk about funding Ukraine while we do nothing about the border. pic.twitter.com/q47O28xE6u

— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) April 16, 2024

Johnson views his narrow majority in the chamber as the catalyst for such extreme compromises. The first three bills are set to be voted on in the House on Saturday evening.

If Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is a true sample of how the vote will go, Johnson won’t be sending any money anywhere and will have risked confidence in him from those who not too long ago elected him to his current position. Roy stated on X, “The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid — while unquestionably, dangerous criminals, terrorists, & fentanyl pour across our border. The border ‘vote’ in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose.”

The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid – while unquestionably, dangerous criminals, terrorists, & fentanyl pour across our border. The border “vote” in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose. https://t.co/8LHlnZlgjd

— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) April 17, 2024

What a disappointment.

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