Analysis: House Speaker Mike Johnson faces decisive dilemma on Ukraine
Mike Johnson speaks to reporters during a press conference at the United States Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC. 14 February. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, holds the destiny of democracy and the people in his hands.
It is not the United States that will survive, even if the next general election results in another existential test for the constitutional system.
Johnson has the power to save Ukraine, two years after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded it and decreed that it had no right to exist.
Ukrainian soldiers are running out of ammunition. There are signs that Russia is about to break the impasse and tilt the war in its favor.
Johnson, a congressman who was the last choice to lead the insurgent Republican majority in the House of Representatives last year, could ease Ukraine’s suffering and help ensure its survival as an independent nation in the coming days. Are.
That could allow a vote on a bill that includes $60 billion in aid that the Pentagon says Kiev needs to effectively continue the fight. It would likely pass with a comfortable bipartisan majority.
The Louisiana Republican’s reluctance to do so is a reflection on the growing power of GOP front-runner Donald Trump, his own ambition to finance the Ukrainian government since turning away from his party’s pro-democracy global legacy and perhaps borrowing Democratic votes. Is a comment. , The defense could cost him the presidency.
Their plight will be highlighted at a meeting of four top congressional leaders convened by President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday.