Speaker Mike Johnson is facing international criticism over his lack of swift action on Ukraine aid, which is ratcheting up pressure to make a critical decision that will not only have massive implications for his rookie speakership but also for Ukraine’s ongoing war effort against Russia.

So far, Johnson has resisted calls to bring a Senate-passed aid package up for a quick vote – a move that would require Democratic support and almost certainly spark a revolt from his right flank, something Johnson is eager to avoid. The speaker has said the legislation, which includes over $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine, would not pass in its current form, and privately told Republicans during a closed-door meeting last week there is “no rush” to address the issue, with Congress since having left town for a nearly two-week recess.

The stakes of the high-profile debate – and Johnson’s pivotal role in a legislative response – came into even greater focus over the weekend. Global leaders gathered at the annual Munich Security Conference just as news broke that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny had died in prison, while Ukraine suffered a significant setback to Russian forces on the battlefield – twin developments that have injected a new sense of urgency for Congress to act as the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches this weekend and as the Ukrainian military warns it is running out of resources to resist.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    “Should I bow to vast international and domestic pressure or should I suck Trump’s cock? Thinking… thinking… let me get my knee pads out while I consider this… well, no rush on Ukraine. Better put these knee pads on.”

    • khannie@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I heard Ben Hodges say the house is on holidays until the end of the month. They left people to die while they went on holidays instead of voting.

      • Fapper_McFapper@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        That’s because Republicans are a death cult. They love to see people suffer, they love to see someone falter, they love to be the cause of that suffering.

        All while pretending to care, all while pretending to emulate Jesus Christ. Fuck republicans with a giant cactus followed by a rust covered wrench.

      • thragtacular@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        You are aware that every government is literally always leaving someone to die every moment of every day, right?

        Welcome to the world. It’s shit.

        • Fapper_McFapper@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          A government that does not have the means to save every single life is different from a government that has the means to save a life but not the will to do so.

          I’ll leave you to your musings.

        • Heresy_generator@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          The Senate passed the bill that will save lives. The President waits to sign the bill that will save lives as soon as it’s on his desk. The House is on vacation because leadership refuses to allow it to do its job and pass the life-saving bill.

          This is not an “every moment of every day” situation and I don’t know what benefit you think comes from falsely normalizing it.

          • thragtacular@kbin.social
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            10 months ago

            It is, quite literally, every moment of every day. Your ignorance is fucking astounding.

            Pick any time that Congress is not in session. There is ALWAYS something they could be passing to save one group or another. Painting this shit as “OMG CONGRESS DUN CARE” is the kind of garbage-tier anti-government horseshit that ends up with idiots voting for Republicans. “Well, if da gubmint dusnt do nothin’ then why have gubmint?!?” You hear this shit every time Congress is out of session for any reason. There’s ALWAYS some bill that just absolutely has to be passed even though none of it mattered six months ago. It’s politically expedient to complain about it now, so that’s what happens.

            Congress is not full of goddamn robots, and their schedule is prepared well in advance. If you call them back to vote on this shit, you’re necessarily delaying OTHER votes and hey, guess what, when they go on break there will be YET ANOTHER vote that wasn’t done because they went on break that’s NOW the big boogeyman bill that they should be voting on rather than going on break.

            It’s a never ending cycle of bullshit.

            Pay more attention.

            • ExpertisePredicament
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              10 months ago

              What even is your point besides unnecessarily acting like a dick? Whining and saying “you can’t criticize the fucking republicans because people die every day” is a bullshit argument and you know it.

  • GreenAlex@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    While I’m not surprised and I’m not sure if the current proposals are any different, I hate how dishonest the framing around our aid so far has been. Even in non-right-wing news, it’s regularly talked about as a dollar amount, implying that it is or will be a strain on our economy. In actuality, we are primarily supplying old equipment that, while better than what Russia has, is not the best we own and would use ourselves. All that to say, this is not some big drain on the country like some people would like us to believe.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      In actuality, we are primarily supplying old equipment that,

      I don’t know this for a fact, but sending this old equipment may actually save the USA money because it won’t have to be stored and maintained anymore. Maintenance, even on mothballed equipment isn’t free. Certain environmental controls are required to prevent corrosion and rusting. Certain fluids have to be changed even with little to no use of the equipment because of chemical breakdown over time. We’re talking years sometimes decades, but lots of this stuff we’re sending is from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, so at least 2 decades old but as much as 5 decades.

      Clearing out all this stuff means we don’t have to pay the bill to maintain it.

  • magnetosphere@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    All Ukraine is asking is that we send them what they need to kick invaders out of their country. They’ll do all the hard work themselves. Shut the fuck up and get it done, Johnson.

  • ikidd@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    The Russian-aligned right have no interest in accomplishing anything on that file.

  • Wahots@pawb.social
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    10 months ago

    Johnson needs to quit being such a pussy and do his appointed job as a US public servant. What are they going to do, fire him? They already lost one, and it humiliated them so bad that they won’t have another catastrophic firing this close to a presidential race. Anyone who tries to fire him on the republican side will quietly get held down and beaten with a pillowcase full of soap bars like in Full Metal Jacket.

    He either needs to do his job, or get on the front lines, as he’s a complete waste of oxygen as speaker. Good, gunine people are dying while this coward sits around with his thumb up his ass.