Mike Johnson Vows to Stay Speaker as Foreign-Aid Plan Sparks Backlash

WASHINGTON—House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed to remain speaker Tuesday as he faced the most direct challenge to his leadership since taking the gavel last fall, sparked by his effort to pass long-stalled funding for Ukraine, Israel and other overseas allies.

The Louisiana Republican is now trying to maneuver a complicated, four-part piece of legislation through the House by the end of the week—likely relying heavily on Democratic votes—while also keeping his job, even as more Republicans indicated they were souring on his leadership. By late in the day, there were signs his plans were unraveling, with members raising concerns about his proposal to pass four separate bills, lash them together and send them to the Senate.

The new threat to Johnson’s speakership came Tuesday morning, when Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.), a sharp critic of further aid to Ukraine, said that he will join Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) on her motion to vacate the chair, which could lead to a vote to oust the speaker. Greene filed the motion last month, but hasn’t moved to force a vote.

Massie said Johnson should allow the GOP to pick a new leader and then step aside, claiming that at this point a motion to vacate the chair would draw more support than it did back in October, when a group of eight rebel Republicans engineered the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.).

Johnson rejected the notion. “I am not resigning and it is in my view an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply trying to do our job,” he told reporters.

“We need steady hands at the wheel. I regard myself as a wartime speaker,” Johnson said, pointing to the challenges facing the country and his narrow 218-213 majority. “I didn’t anticipate that this would be an easy path.”

Massie’s move came amid growing frustration among a large bloc of conservatives over how Johnson has repeatedly turned to Democrats to help pass legislation to fund the government and other critical measures, such as the recent reauthorization of a contentious surveillance bill called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Many of these conservatives have also demanded that no money be spent on Ukraine before tightening U.S. border security.

Still, by late Tuesday, no other Republicans had joined the motion to vacate, and there was no sign of any lawmaker who would be a plausible or willing replacement if Johnson were to be removed.

GOP critics argue Johnson hasn’t driven a hard enough bargain with Democrats on issues such as cutting spending, while Johnson counters that his historically narrow majority—coupled with Democratic control of the Senate and the White House—has left the party with a weak hand.

Johnson has been under intense pressure from the White House and many lawmakers to pass funding for Ukraine, now in its third year of war with Russia. After repeated delays, he unveiled a plan late Monday to bring four separate bills to the House floor, in a maneuver aimed at breaking a long deadlock over a $95 billion foreign-aid package the Senate passed earlier this year.

Congressional leaders of both parties and President Biden had urged Johnson to take up the Senate bill. Instead, Johnson split the aid up in an effort to work around a large group of Republicans—including Greene and Massie—who oppose sending more money to Ukraine.

Johnson said he planned to release the actual text of the measures as soon as later Tuesday, and the White House and congressional Democrats said they were waiting to see details.

But by Tuesday afternoon, GOP lawmakers and aides were saying that Johnson’s plan—to pass measures helping Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan separately, alongside a bill with several GOP priorities such as restricting TikTok, and then combine them to send to the Senate as one bill—was falling apart.

“More people have spoken out in the conference for individual bills, rather than being remitted together,” said Rep. French Hill (R., Ark.). “I think the speaker needs to make the best judgment on that.”

“That’s being altered right now,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R., S.C.), saying he had met with Johnson during the day.

Republicans were also upset that the bill didn’t include any immigration measures.

“We’ve said multiple times over the last six months, border first, before Ukraine,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas).

“Same s—, different day,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R., Nev.) said of the House GOP infighting. “Listen, if you hate the bills, then vote against them,” he said.

Massie, a libertarian-leaning conservative who has served in Congress for over a decade, was integral in removing then-Speaker John Boehner in 2015 over frustration that the Republican leader was out of step with the party on spending issues. He lives in an off-the-grid home, powered by solar panels and a salvaged Tesla battery.

In a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday morning, Massie called for Johnson to announce his resignation now so that Republicans can have a leadership election before he departs.

Massie told Johnson: “You’re the only one who can stop an MTV,” according to a person in the room, pushing for Johnson to quit rather than face a motion to vacate. Johnson replied: “No, the person moving the MTV is the only person who can stop it.”

Some Republicans were cool to the idea of a motion to vacate.

“I like Marjorie, I like Massie, but that’s not what a motion to vacate was designed for, it was designed for scandal,” said Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.).

If it came to a vote, Johnson would only be able to lose two Republican votes and still keep his post, unless some Democrats in the chamber decide to bail him out. Wisconsin GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher also plans to leave Congress on April 19, making the majority even slimmer.

Democrats have indicated that they would step in to save Johnson’s job if Republicans moved to oust him over Ukraine.

“My position hasn’t changed. Massie wants the world to burn, I won’t stand by and watch. I have a bucket of water,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D., Fla.) said on social media.

Kristina Peterson and Katy Stech Ferek contributed to this article.

Write to Natalie Andrews at [email protected]