The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee opined Friday that, ultimately, Speaker Mike Johnson will have to allow a vote on military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan despite the opposition of a small number of GOP Representatives who insist on a border security package as a prerequisite to such a vote while steadfastly refusing to offer a border security bill on amend the bill produced by the Senate.

Texas Republican Michael McCaul said Speaker Johnson was committed to moving the Senate aid package.“I think that’s going to be a difficult choice for him,” he said, “because if they’re threatening a motion to vacate, it’s a tough decision.” As a side note, that threat is really a non-threat. Kevin McCarthy made a deal with the devil to become House Speaker by permitting a rule that enabled a single representative to force a vote on a motion to vacate the chair. Since Matt Gaetz forced McCarthy out, the rule has reverted to only allowing a motion to vacate to be introduced if “offered on behalf of a party conference or caucus.” So Johnson is in no danger of such a vote being introduced, and Hakeem Jeffries has pledged his caucus will vote to support Johnson if it happens.

“I don’t see anyway of getting out of Israel, Indo Pacific and eventually Ukraine coming to the floor. He’s either going to have to do it — put it on the floor himself — or it’s going to be by virtue of a discharge petition, which is a complete evisceration of his power, because it basically says we’re going to do this without the Speaker being in charge,” the chairman continued.

Indeed, a discharge petition would make Johnson a lame-duck Speaker. Making such a petition successful would only take about ten GOP votes. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has vowed to use “all options” to break the logjam, including a discharge petition, which would require a majority of House members to sign on.https://t.co/02PD0hSs5K

— POLITICO (@politico) February 16, 2024

As about 30 GOP House members won in Biden-majority districts, that number would not be hard to garner.

“There are some [House Republicans] that I don’t think can be persuaded, because the narrative is so strong. I think the sort-of brainwashing, if you will, that we have to choose between our southern border and Ukraine, has been out there. I don’t agree with that,” McCaul said. 

“I think it’s a false dichotomy. We’re a great nation, and we can do both. I live in Texas. But I think we have to explain to the American people why Ukraine is a national security interest; it directly impacts China and has an impact with Iran and our adversaries.”