House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Sunday Night in America With Trey Gowdy that he is working on a package which includes aid for Ukraine and plans to put it on the floor when the House returns to session. He reiterated a suggestion made last month by former President Donald Trump to condition any aid to Ukraine as a loan.
Note: Last month Johnson refused to consider a Senate-passed emergency foreign aid package that would have included $60 billion for Ukraine as it battles against a Russian invasion.
Unfortunately, this is not April fools. Johnson, Schumer & the deep state are writing the Ukraine bill. Then Johnson will suspend rules to pass it.
“We’re putting that product together & we’ll be moving it right after the district work period,” -Johnson.https://t.co/tO8aMOtUP9
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 1, 2024
House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) voiced his support and optimism on Johnson’s new package (“I believe this is going to have overwhelming support in Congress, and we’ll put a bill on the president’s desk”), but fellow Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) voiced his disapproval.
Massie wrote on Monday: “Unfortunately, this is not April fools. Johnson, Schumer & the deep state are writing the Ukraine bill. Then Johnson will suspend rules to pass it.”
Note: In 2022, Massie was one of three members to oppose a resolution supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty after it was invaded by Russia, and in 2019 he was the only member of Congress to oppose an act that refused to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
More recently, on March 19, 2024, Massie was one of nine Republicans (including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Biggs, Chip Roy) who voted against House Resolution 149, which “condemns the illegal abduction and forcible transfer of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”