Marjorie Taylor Greene escalates threat to oust Mike Johnson over Ukraine aid – live

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Some centrist Democrats have already indicated they will not allow Greene to let the chamber descend into chaos, especially if she forces the motion to vacate vote over the issue of Ukraine funding. Congressman Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat of Florida, posted to Twitter/X last month:

I do not support Speaker Johnson but I will never stand by and let [Greene] … take over the people’s House.

The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, previously told the New York Times that he expected “a reasonable number” of his caucus members would come to Johnson’s assistance if his speakership was imperiled because of a vote on Ukraine aid.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill Thursday, 21 March 2024, in Washington. Photograph: Mariam Zuhaib/AP

But one of the leading House progressives, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, has argued that Democrats’ support for Johnson should come with some legislative strings attached. Ocasio-Cortez recently told CNN:

My vote would most likely be for a Speaker Jeffries, which becomes an increasingly likely reality day after day as Republicans pursue further midterm resignation. But I think, for those of us and for any Democrat inclined, I don’t think we do that for free.

While Johnson weighs his legislative options to approve more money for Ukraine, the specter of the motion to vacate looms in the background.

If congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia follows through on her threat to force a vote on Johnson’s removal, the House must take up the matter within two legislative days. Johnson will then need the support of a majority of members to keep his job, and because of a recent string of Republican resignations, he can only afford to lose two votes within his conference.

As of now, few Republicans appear eager to revisit the spectacle of last fall, when the conference’s repeated failures to elect a new speaker ground the House to a complete halt for weeks.

Even as Johnson faces a challenge from the hard-right flank of his conference, other House Republicans insist the chamber must take action to assist Ukraine.

They warn that further inaction, after months of ignoring the White House’s demands to approve more funding, will only embolden the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Congressman Mike Turner, the Republican chair of the House intelligence committee, told CBS News last Sunday:

We are at a critical juncture on the ground that is beginning to be able to impact not only morale of the Ukrainians that are fighting, but also their ability to fight. Putin knows this. This is obviously an area where we cannot allow Putin to win.

Johnson already has two legislative options to approve more money for Ukraine, the Senate-approved package and a smaller $66bn bill introduced by a bipartisan group of House members.

The second proposal would provide military-only funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, omitting the $10bn for humanitarian aid included in the Senate bill.

The House legislation also outlines a number of border security provisions, a bid to sway some Republican members who are otherwise wary of sending more money to Kyiv. Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican of New York and one of the House bill’s co-sponsors, told CNN last Sunday:

I am hopeful that the speaker will put the bill on the floor or an amended version of the bill on the floor so that we can once and for all ensure that our allies have the aid and support that they need.

As the House adjourned last month, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, vowed that the chamber would soon “take the necessary steps to address the supplemental funding request”, which includes money for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The Senate passed a $95bn foreign aid package in February, but Johnson indicated that the House would consider an amended proposal when members return to Washington. Johnson told Fox News last Sunday:

We’ve been talking to all the members, especially now over the district work period. When we return after this work period, we’ll be moving a product, but it’s going to, I think, have some important innovations.

Those innovations might include sending money to Kyiv as a loan or redirecting Russian assets seized under the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (Repo) for Ukrainians Act.

But even those changes are unlikely to sway the most vocal Ukraine skeptics in the House Republican conference, such as the congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

United States Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks to press in front of the US Capitol in Washington DC, United States on 22 March 2024. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Pressure mounts on Johnson over Ukraine aid as ouster threat looms

Good morning US politics readers.

The House returns today after a two-week Easter recess as the speaker, Mike Johnson, faces mounting pressure to advance a Ukraine aid package and the threat of an intra-party revolt if he does so.

Johnson has indicated the House will take up the issue of Ukraine funding this week, but many hard-right members of his conference remain staunchly opposed to additional Ukraine aid and the Georgia congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, has already introduced a motion-to-vacate resolution, all but daring Johnson to move forward with a Ukraine aid bill so she can force a vote on the matter. Speaking to CNN last week, Greene said:

I’m not saying I have a red line or a trigger, and I’m not saying I don’t have a red line or trigger. But I’m going to tell you right now: funding Ukraine is probably one of the most egregious things that he can do.

Meanwhile, the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, is scheduled to meet with secretary of state Antony Blinken and congressional lawmakers in Washington over the next two days. Ahead of his meeting with Blinken, Cameron took the unusual and potentially risky step of traveling to see Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, in the hopes of persuading the presumptive Republican presidential candidate to drop his opposition to Ukraine aid deal that is being held up in Congress partly on Trump’s instruction.

Here’s what else we’re watching:

• 10am ET. The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will meet with the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, at the state department.

• 11:15am. Blinken and Biden will give a news conference.

• 12.30pm. Joe Biden will speak at Washington’s Union Station about the “care economy”, a reference to care workers and family caregivers.

• 1.30pm. The White House daily press briefing.

• 4pm. The House rules committee will meet to take up several bills, including a bill extending Section 702 in the FISA reauthorization and a resolution denouncing the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

• 6pm. Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, will welcome the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko Kishida, to the White House.

• Kamala Harris will meet privately this afternoon in with relatives of Americans taken hostage in Gaza during the Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel on 7 October.