Johnson vows Ukraine aid vote, details to come

What happened

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will bring a Ukraine aid bill to the floor after the House returns April 9, Johnson said Sunday.

Who said what

"When we return," Johnson said on Fox News, "we'll be moving" a Ukraine bill with "some important innovations." It's "very likely that after this Ukraine bill," Republicans "may have a standoff with the speaker," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who supports Ukraine funding, said to NBC. "It's possible" he'll be ousted.

The commentary

The holdup of aid by "Mr. Johnson will really cost thousands of lives there — children, women," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in Washington in March. "He must be aware of his personal responsibility."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What next?

Democrats say "they will save Johnson if he moves a Ukraine bill they can support," but if not "he risks putting off both Democrats and right-wing Republicans," CNN said. Any bill that differs from what the Senate passed in February would ping-pong back to the upper chamber, causing "additional delays," ammunition rationing and lost "towns and lives," said Doug Klain at the Atlantic Council.