Johnson is trying to strike a compromise. Splitting the bills into separate votes allows anti-Ukraine Republicans to vote against that funding and progressive Democrats to vote against the Israel funding — but both measures could still pass. That compromise, however, didn’t satisfy far-right members of Johnson’s caucus, who moved closer Tuesday to forcing a vote to remove him as speaker. He likely needs Democratic support to pass the legislation and to save his job.
GOP congressional sources tell me that before Iran’s attack on Israel, Johnson was leaning toward moving the entire aid package with one vote, which would be much simpler. But beginning on Saturday afternoon, Johnson and his staff started receiving calls and texts from far-right anti-Ukraine lawmakers urging him to pass the Israel aid alone and delay the Ukraine aid yet again.
“It had nothing to do with protecting Israel, these guys were just happy to have a new excuse to oppose Ukraine aid and they jumped on it,” a senior GOP congressional aide told me.
On Sunday, these MAGA lawmakers went public with their push to shelve Ukraine aid. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who opposes any aid to Ukraine, posted on X, “It’s antisemitic to make Israeli aid contingent on funding Ukrainian Nazis.” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) posted on X, “If we send billions to Ukraine because of this Iranian attack, the terrorists win.”
There’s a lot wrong with these statements. Passing the bills together doesn’t amount to “conditioning” the Israel aid — and it wouldn’t be “antisemitic” if it did. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish, not a Nazi. And Gaetz seems not to realize that the Iranians are also helping Russia attack Ukraine.
“The MAGA faction of Congress fundamentally misunderstands or does not want to understand the national security implications of how these conflicts are connected,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) told me. “They need to wake up and look at the full picture.”
This is not the first time far-right GOP lawmakers have tried to use Israel as an excuse to delay passing aid to Ukraine. In November, Johnson himself pushed through an Israel-only funding bill that ignored Ukraine, but the Senate didn’t take it up. He tried again in February to pass aid for Israel only, but failed. Interestingly, Greene voted no on the aid for Israel both times. That didn’t stop her from invoking Israel’s security to argue for a delay in Ukraine aid again this week.
Greene and Gaetz are now also out of step with former president Donald Trump, who came out in favor of more Ukraine aid (although he wants it issued as loans) during Johnson’s visit to Mar-a-Lago last week. Trump wants Congress to pass Ukraine aid because he sees it as in his personal interest, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told me. If Trump returns to office and tries to push a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, he needs Ukraine to be in a strong position militarily.
“President Trump understands if Ukraine makes a deal from a position of weakness, that will just invite another invasion and entice China,” Graham said.
Johnson’s current effort shows that he is still trying to placate his far-right base but is also genuinely trying to get Israel and Ukraine funding done. Democrats are right to support this effort, and the Senate should pass Johnson’s aid package quickly, if it gets that far. His plan includes additional items the White House should be willing to accept, including a bill that would seek to compel TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent ByteDance and a bill to authorize the administration to seize frozen Russian assets. If it fails, the MAGA drive to fully separate Israel aid and kill Ukraine aid will resurface and pick up more steam.
Even if it succeeds, a larger lesson must be learned about not pitting U.S. allies against each other. By pointing to Israel as a reason to abandon Ukraine, Republicans such as Greene and Gaetz are further politicizing the Israel issue, exacerbating the suffering of Ukrainians, and preventing U.S. leaders in both parties from finding the political compromises needed to ensure the security of Israel, Ukraine and the United States alike.
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