House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) handed a $61 billion gift to President Joe Biden on Saturday afternoon, rescinding a months-long promise to never move forward with foreign aid without first securing the U.S. border. .
Several Democrats, and perhaps a few Republicans, cheered as well. “Ukraine,” he shouted. And with the end of the vote to support Ukraine, they abandoned the Ukrainian flag.
Mr. Johnson criticized the Democratic Party, saying, “It is disrespectful to abandon the flag in the chamber.”
The Ukraine portion of the foreign aid passed 311-112, with one delegate, Republican Dan Mouser (R-Pennsylvania), voting present.
Prime Minister Johnson once again violated the Hastert Rule. Only 101 Republicans voted for Johnson, with a clear majority of 112 voting against him.
House Republicans circulated a document outlining a timeline for Mr. Johnson’s repeated insistence that the House would not move forward with a foreign aid plan before securing the United States’ southern border.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson began to become agitated in public in early March, following a meeting at the White House on February 28.
His reversal comes after months of raids by both the White House and establishment Republicans.
“We have been working with him for months to get him there,” said the anonymous lawmaker. Said politikoThe newspaper said Johnson’s Ukraine bill “gives Biden a major foreign policy victory that he hasn’t had for a year.”
Mike Johnson’s retraining by the White House and the intelligence community began before his seat warmed up.according to politiko“The administration held several closed-door conferences with Johnson and other members of Congress just days after he took over as speaker to update him on the deteriorating situation in Ukraine.”
Officials involved in these briefings included CIA Director William Burns and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
The Ukraine bill would be part of a larger foreign aid package that does not include border security.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the border security bill to a vote, but he moved it under a suspension of rules, requiring a two-thirds majority to pass.
It received 215 votes and was rejected with 199 votes against.
The Senate plans to take action as soon as it receives the bill.
Bradley Jay is Breitbart News’ Capitol Hill correspondent. Follow him on X/Twitter. @BradleyAJay.
