House Republicans are increasingly expressing their dissatisfaction with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Representatives Scott Perry (R-PA) and Jim Banks (R-IN) voice their frustrations regarding what Banks referred to as “insanity” in Johnson’s foreign aid plan. This plan allocates over three times the amount of money to Ukraine compared to Israel, while neglecting the U.S. Southern border.
On Tuesday, Perry took to X to share an image of the plan, which reveals that $48.83 billion is allocated to Ukraine, $14.1 billion to Israel, $2.4 billion to “Red Sea Operations,” $2.58 billion to “INDOPACOM,” and $3.3 billion to 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.
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 have expressed their disapproval of the four bills, coinciding with the opposition shown by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ). Greene filed a motion to vacate against Johnson before the Easter break, while Biggs signaled his disagreement with the multiple-impact reentry vehicles rule (MIRV) that Johnson aims to incorporate into 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. “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.
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Greene announced her intention to vote against the rule, and given the slim one-seat majority and increasing Republican resistance, Johnson would require assistance from Democrats to secure the passage of the rule and garner support for the aid. In the meantime, Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) joined as a cosponsor of Greene’s motion to vacate the chair on Tuesday and in the morning, he urged the speaker to step down.
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