Before Republican Rep. Mike Johnson became speaker of the House, he wasn’t an open proponent of bankrolling the Russia-Ukraine war. Even the Lousiana native’s first few months with the gavel were marked by his repeated pledge that the lower chamber would not pass legislation promising money to secure other nation’s borders while ours was still under attack.
Now that his leadership is threatened thanks to his continual collusion with Democrats and establishment Republicans, however, the self-proclaimed “wartime speaker” is abandoning his record of Ukraine skepticism in favor of joining the push for an endless stream of money to a corrupt overseas regime.
In May 2023, Johnson, then an individual member, declined to support another blank check to Kyiv because the U.S. “should not be sending another $40 billion abroad when our own border is in chaos, American mothers are struggling to find baby formula, gas prices are at record highs, and American families are struggling to make ends meet, without sufficient oversight over where the money will go.” Less than one month before becoming speaker, Johnson also voted no on a bill that promised $300 million more to Ukraine.
Even Johnson’s post-speaker election remarks, which featured shoutouts to Israel and other foreign policy issues, made no mention of the Russia-Ukraine war.