Pressure mounts on Speaker Johnson as calls grow louder for his resignation over Ukraine bill – WSJ
Republican and critic of aid to Ukraine Thomas Massie said he will join Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in her call to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson from office, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Massie called on Johnson to let the GOP choose a new speaker and then resign. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a supporter of the 45th US President Donald Trump, made such a proposal earlier.
Massie's move comes amid frustration among a large bloc of conservatives that Johnson has repeatedly turned to Democrats for help passing bills to fund the government and other important measures.
In their turn, the Democrats promise to save the speaker from dismissal within a month if he approves aid to Ukraine.
As the WSJ writes, a growing number of Republicans indicate that they are disappointed in Johnson's leadership. Lawmakers expressed concern about his proposal to adopt four separate bills, combine them and send them to the Senate.
Meanwhile, by the end of April 16, no other Republicans had joined the resignation bid, and there were no signs that any lawmakers could replace Johnson if he were to be ousted from office.
Johnson also said he would not resign.
"I am not resigning, and it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs," he said, adding that he considers himself "a wartime speaker, and this is not easy".
On April 16, Johnson said that work on one of four separate bills to fund American aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and other national security priorities is still ongoing.
During his election campaign in South Carolina, former US President Donald Trump offered to lend money to Ukraine for military needs, while the approval of further support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is delayed in Congress.
On March 14, House Speaker Johnson voiced the same proposal.
On March 21, it became known that the Democrats in the US Congress support the initiative of the Republicans to provide assistance to Ukraine on credit.