“Speaker” Mike Johnson is making a mess for himself already
Mike Johnson, elected unanimously by a far-right party with only a slight mandate to govern, was largely elected in the hopes that he’d promise all of the draconian legislation one could hope Republicans to enact – such as forcing cuts to Medicare and Social Security and killing aid to Ukraine. This time around, the GOP tried to turn the budget proposal into a poison pill, putting aid to Israel and aid to Ukraine in separate bills, while also offering to pay for Israeli aid by cutting back on the number of agents hired by the IRS.
It’s a pretty stupid proposal that was always dead on arrival before making it to the Senate. Chuck Schumer already came out loudly against, making it clear that Johnson is trying to hold the country’s military aid for ransom and the Senate will not stand for it. Now, Johnson’s proposal is also being derided by Republicans for the reckless piece of legislation that it is, with Senate Republicans Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney also denouncing the legislation and saying that we should fund the aid packages of both Ukraine and Israel together – particularly in the wake of Hamas’ not so secret support of Russia.
It’s also not just the so-called moderate Rs denouncing this – with even Josh Hawley saying the plan doesn’t make much sense. In just a week as speaker, Johnson is floundering already when it comes to the demands of right-wing voters, and in doing so, making us look untrustworthy in the eyes of the world. This is why we must vote to remove Republicans from all levels of power in both 2023 and 2024.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making