The House Speaker Finally Does the Right Thing

House Speaker Mike Johnson has finally secured the passage of billions of dollars in Ukraine aid in the House. Will the Republican congressman be forced to forfeit the speakership in return? For now, this question is of little consequence compared to the far greater challenge at hand for Western countries.

American’s elected representatives finally overcame their domestic political wrangling and pulled off a mighty achievement. They set aside the mother of all power struggles for long enough to do what was so desperately needed to address the ongoing confrontation with Russia. They recognized that their own country, the U.S.-backed international order, its allies in Europe and the brave Ukrainian nation were facing the gravest of existential threats. This substantial aid package for Ukraine was approved not a moment too soon. In addition to influencing the course of the war, it will give Ukraine and the U.S.-led Western allies a chance of holding firm against the Russian aggressor’s spring offensive.

However, this breakthrough decision will not mask the Republicans’ internal power struggle for long. Johnson will start to come under fire again in no time as the target at the center of factional infighting.

The devoutly religious Republican leader may also consider it his reward for getting the vitally important billions of dollars in funding and support for Israel, Gaza and Taiwan through Congress’ restive lower chamber. Suddenly, many are calling Johnson Kyiv’s defender; some even regard him as a hero, a statesman and a possible martyr in the event Republican plotters move to bring him down.

Vladimir Putin Must Have Enjoyed the Spectacle of So Much Congressional Infighting

Yet these representatives could, and indeed should, have risen to the occasion much sooner. They could have made the funds — and thus the necessary additional firepower — available months ago. Instead, they kept Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy waiting. The American superpower’s paralysis and a weakened Ukraine were also, for far too long, products of Johnson’s handiwork. Russia’s strongman ruler Vladimir Putin must have relished the spectacle of so many political turf wars playing out in the U.S. Capitol.

Indeed, the state of the Republican conference in the House is now becoming one of the biggest headaches for the presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump. First there was the storming of the Capitol by Trump’s fan base in January 2021, and then MAGA nihilists like Marjorie Taylor Greene began their destructive work. Meanwhile, a few other Republicans are casting their minds back wistfully to the days of Ronald Reagan’s politically pragmatic conduct during the Cold War.

The Right-Wing Rabble Had To Relent. For Now, at Least.

This band of rabble-rousers sorely lack any capacity for pragmatic political calculation. There is little point in offsetting Ukraine aid against such red-hot election issues as immigration and the southern border. A while back, a draft bipartisan bill was put forward which tied overseas aid to tougher immigration laws, with a view to defusing the matter. Yet, the immigration component of the bill was simply not tough enough to pacify the uneasy extremists.

Now these fanatics will be looking for any opportunity to test the limits of congressional power. Will Trump’s support for the speaker hold out in such an event? Trump remains unpredictable, and the split among his supporters over the fundamental direction of U.S. foreign policy is becoming a serious problem for him. The tide is turning against candidate Trump; he will have to choose which side he is on, just as he has done on the divisive domestic political issue of abortion.

Still, one gets the impression that a sense of reality has temporarily prevailed in the U.S. Congress. The right-wing wrecking crew that seeks to stymie as many of the Biden administration’s moves as it can was forced to give ground for once. Like a mob boss keeping watch, Trump remains aloof from these internal party disputes, while he declines to send any orders. In doing so, he is allowing his own people to put his authority to the test.