House GOP path on Ukraine still a mystery
Rep. Greene to chat with Speaker Johnson
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for April 5, 2024:
British Foreign Secretary leans on Speaker over Ukraine.
Biden and Trump both criticize Israel.
More GOP-on-GOP election infighting.
UKRAINE. It has been two weeks since House members left town for an Easter break, and it's still not clear how Speaker Mike Johnson is going to deal with calls to approve billions in aid for Ukraine already passed by the Senate. Johnson has floated some ideas this past week, but no actual outline or bill text has been released, meaning a vote might not happen until well into April - if at all.
ACTION. The continuing delays drew more calls for action from Democrats in Congress. "Let's come together to pass aid for Ukraine,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), as lawmakers noted the 75th anniversary of NATO. "We must stand firm against Vladimir Putin’s attack on our democratic allies," added Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
THE FOREIGN OFFICE. Johnson is also hearing more appeals from Europe to act on aid for Ukraine. The British Foreign Secretary, former Prime Minister David Cameron, said on Thursday that he would be meeting with the Speaker next week, and bringing a very direct message to Washington.
LETTER TO AMERICA. "Britain has put forward its money for Ukraine this year, so has the European Union. America needs to do it," Cameron said, who urged world leaders to call Speaker Johnson. "I'm going to go see him next week and say, we need that money - Ukraine needs that money.”
MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. Two weeks after filing a resolution to boot out House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) will speak with Johnson today, as she continues to publicly denounce the GOP Speaker. On Thursday, Greene called Johnson a 'hypocrite' for how he might shepherd extra aid to Ukraine through the House.
HYPOCRITE. "What changed?" Greene demanded to know in yet another jab at her party's House leader over the idea of approving aid for Kyiv. "Who is Mike Johnson working for? It’s clearly not the American people." (In order to be accurate, Greene spelled out hypocrite like this: "HypOcRitE.")
SELFIE. It's hard to believe that it was only back on October 25, 2023 that a smiling Greene was taking a selfie on the House floor with the new Speaker of the House - after Mike Johnson was elected to replace Kevin McCarthy. Now, Greene is doing all she can to basically run his ass out of town.
WHAT'S NEXT. Speaker Johnson can probably survive Greene's challenge right now, but Greene's attacks may well make Johnson into damaged goods in the long run inside the GOP. It's just more of the unprecedented level of dysfunction among Republicans that has marked the 118th Congress. We’ll see what happens with their chat today.
ISRAEL. President Biden has faced a lot of calls in recent months from Democrats to be tougher on the Israelis, and he has put some daylight between himself and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. But we are starting to see former President Donald Trump create some of his own space away from the choices of the Netanyahu government in Gaza as well.
HEWITT. In a Thursday interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump was asked several times if he was '100 percent' with Israel. He didn't answer directly, but made clear his concerns. "I’m not sure that I’m loving the way they’re doing it, because you’ve got to have victory," Trump said, "and it's taking a long time."
PR WAR. Like the salesman and businessman that he is, Trump talked about his concerns in how the Israeli attacks inside Gaza are being perceived around the world. "They're losing the PR war," Trump said. "They're losing it big. But they've got to finish up what they started."
BIDEN. Meanwhile, President Biden spoke with the Israeli Prime Minister on Thursday, and made clear that things need to change, calling attacks on aid workers, 'unacceptable.' "Israel must implement steps to address civilian harm and the safety of workers – and work toward a ceasefire to bring hostages home," the President said.
ACTION. It looked like the pressure from Mr. Biden may have worked last night, as the Israeli war cabinet approved plans to open one border crossing into Gaza - in order to allow more humanitarian aid to be delivered.
MAYORKAS. House Republicans will finally send two impeachment charges to the Senate next week against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - but Senate Democrats may make sure the trial is over fast. Much more in my column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
REGULAR ORDER. Are you looking for a different kind of gift? Consider giving straight news from Capitol Hill by buying a gift subscription to ‘Regular Order.’ Or if you just want to say ‘thanks,’ you can always buy me a beer.
NOT VOTER FRAUD. If there has been one maddening thing over the past eight years for me as a reporter, it's having to track down the never-ending false claims of vote fraud coming from Republicans. We saw yet another example of that this week, which quickly found its way into the halls of Congress.
VOTER ID. From out of nowhere, there were suddenly GOP claims this week of dramatic increases in new voters in Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania - supposedly without any checks on their identity or citizenship. "The number of voters registering without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING in 3 key swing states," read one warning.
GOP. That was quickly grabbed by one familiar GOP voice. "We must have voter ID that proves citizenship," said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Meanwhile, X (Twitter) owner Elon Musk called for voter ID laws in all states, amid hints that illegal aliens were registering to vote en masse.
POPPYCOCK. That was quickly shot down by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, who is a Republican. "It is totally inaccurate that 1.2 million voters have registered to vote in Texas without a photo ID this year," Nelson said. "The truth is our voter rolls have increased by 57,711 voters since the beginning of 2024."
GOP VS. GOP. We've seen several instances this year of sitting House Republicans endorsing challengers against their colleagues in Congress. That is considered a very, very uncool thing to do - but it's becoming more common with this House GOP. The latest example comes in a Republican runoff in Texas.
LONE STAR. Instead of sticking with Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) endorsed Brandon Herrera, who faces the Congressman in a runoff on May 28. "He has proven to be the kind of courageous conservative warrior we need," Good said of Herrera, who was also endorsed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
NOT GOOD. Good is already in the same situation. A few weeks ago, several GOP lawmakers joined a fundraiser for his primary opponent, state delegate John McGuire. Some like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) were already trying to beat Good because he endorsed Ron DeSantis over Donald Trump.
TRUMPED. And Trump is on board with McGuire, who made the trek to Mar-a-Lago just last week. It would be pretty crazy for the head of the House Freedom Caucus to get knocked off by Trump. But that’s where the Republican Party is right now in the U.S. House. The Virginia primary is June 18.
NO CANDIDATE. The group 'No Labels' has given up on its effort to field a candidate for President, ending months of a centrist effort to find a third party ticket for November. "Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before," the group said in a statement.
THIRD PARTY. Democrats had long been worried about No Labels, with some fearing it could drain votes away from President Biden. The group had approached a series of figures in both parties to run - but all backed away from the idea of joining some kind of 'unity ticket.'
RAP SHEET. A Missouri man has pleaded guilty to charges related to his actions on Jan. 6. Nicholas Kennedy, a member of the Proud Boys militia group, joined other rioters in breaching police lines outside the Capitol. He was later part of a group that tried to breach the main doors to the House floor.
MUSE OF HISTORY. April 5, 1808. On this date, the House was embroiled in a debate about adding extra forces to the Army. Some argued such plans would never be needed. "At so great a distance from the belligerent Powers of Europe," said Rep. Richard Stanford of North Carolina, "we have nothing formidable to dread or to fear." Congress ultimately voted to add eight new regiments.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on Tuesday, April 9.
The Senate is back on Monday, April 8.
Check President Biden’s schedule.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a cup of coffee.
The strained expression on the speaker’s face in that selfie with MTG says it all. LOL. It’s beyond ridiculous that he still doesn’t have a game plan in place for a vote on aid to Ukraine. Then again, if just a few more of his colleagues flee for the exits due to his dysfunction, Speaker Jeffries could get the job done.
1. Is it me, or does McGuire look two dimensional in that pic with Trump?
2. Jamie, I'm sorry you're having to ask for beer instead of coffee so early in the election year. Maybe ask good scotch or whiskey by September?