Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson is joining with the Democrat minority to pass a supplemental spending package of foreign aid without the will or consent of the Republican House majority elected by the people of our country. He brazenly pushed through a “rule” to establish guidelines that essentially rigged the vote before it even takes place on Saturday, setting up what is likely inevitable passage of this spending package. This spending bill is not like any other we’ve seen. It provides billions of dollars of additional free aid and military support to Ukraine as they continue their losing war with Russia. If Mike Johnson and Joe Biden want a war with Russia, they should bring up a vote in the House to declare war. Otherwise, we are supporting a rogue and desperate military campaign against a giant nuclear power.
Likewise, the supplemental spending bill gives billions in free military support to Taiwan, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, a nation completely capable of purchasing American military armaments on the free market. Instead, Mike Johnson is colluding with Joe Biden to give these supplies to Taiwan at the expense of the American taxpayer, setting up a potential confrontation with another nuclear armed power, China. Equally outrageous is the fact that Taiwan is not in a war, so now we hit a new low: sending money to countries just in case they need it. Americans cannot afford to buy eggs or fill their cars with gas, yet our politicians feel it’s appropriate to send their desperately needed dollars to countries that don’t even need it.
With this bill, the Democrat Congress and President Biden are blatantly confronting multiple nuclear powers! What’s worse is they are able to do it only because the Republican Speaker of the House is working with them to get it done!
I fully understand that Republicans only tenuously control one-half of the legislative process. But we are giving away the half we do control with this bill. With this realization, if a deal needs to be made, then let’s make a sensible one that works for the American people.
For example, under no circumstance should the Republican-led House move legislation in support of Ukraine without the explicit support from the Democrat Senate that they will pass H.R. 2, the border protection bill.
That seems like a workable deal. Instead, what has happened is that Speaker Johnson has disconnected these two items, giving up his own leverage and that of his Republican colleagues in the House. Johnson has rigged the process so that Democrats can have a clean vote on Ukraine and not have to pass H.R. 2, which the House passed and which has been sitting on Schumer’s desk for 10 months.
This is simply outrageous. The Washington swamp is in control, unless the House Republican Conference stops it. There is a glimmer of hope yet for right-minded Republicans.
It is entirely within the control of the House Republican Caucus to stop Speaker Johnson, the Democrats, and the Washington Swamp war machine from advancing the supplemental spending bill on Saturday by immediately bringing up the Motion to Vacate and beginning the arduous, but necessary, process of removing Speaker Johnson.
Doing so would stop the House from advancing any further legislation for the time being. If the Senate wants to advance the aid package it already has for Israel, one the House passed last year which has been languishing in the Senate ever since, that could be done with a simple majority vote in the Senate without any further action in the House. Furthermore, Israel Aid started at $10 billion, then rose to $14 billion, and is now over $24 billion. If Israel needs or wants this aid, it should be given as a loan that is reimbursed to the American taxpayers.
It is my strong belief, along with many of my fellow conservative Republicans, that Speaker Johnson has not simply crossed the line by working with the Democrats to advance this foolhardy foreign aid bill, he has essentially switched parties and become a member of President Biden‘s coalition to advance war with Russia at the expense of the American taxpayer. Americans overwhelmingly are against entering into a war with Russia, China, Iran, or anyone else.
This cannot be allowed to stand. I urge the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately call up the Motion to Vacate, which will put these bills on hold, even if that means bringing the House to a standstill. Taking no action is better than the action that is about to be undertaken by Congress this weekend.
Lee Rizutto is the former Consul General of Bermuda for President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President of the Conair Corporation.
