Johnson vows Ukraine aid vote, details to come

House Speaker Mike Johnson will bring a Ukraine aid bill to the floor

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)
How Mike Johnson handles Ukraine funding could determine whether he keeps his job
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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."

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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.

Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.