On Easter Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to be an “ambassador of hope” by voting on military aid for Ukraine, despite opposition led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for approving a government funding package before the holiday recess.
During an Easter Sunday interview with Fox News, Johnson confirmed his intention to urge Congress to provide further aid to Kyiv’s war against Russia.
“If we could use the seized assets of Russian oligarchs to allow the Ukrainians to fight them, that’s just pure poetry,” the House speaker said on “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy.”
“Even President Trump has talked about the loan concept,” added Johnson, 52. “We’re not just giving foreign aid — we’re setting it up in a relationship where they can provide it back to us when the time is right.”
“And then, you know, we want to unleash American energy,” he also said. “We want to have natural gas exports that will help unfund [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s war effort there.”
Johnson has consistently voiced opposition to Russia’s actions and supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, although he voted against $60 billion in funding for Ukraine without any limitations.
On the one-year anniversary of Evan Gershkovich’s wrongful detention by Russia, we continue to condemn his baseless arrest and repeat our calls for his release. pic.twitter.com/lEilDWgTvn
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 29, 2024
In November, he floated to The Post the idea of seizing $300 billion in Russian assets, which had been earlier written into a bill by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), known as the REPO for Ukrainians Act.
The Senate in mid-February passed a $95 billion funding bill with the $60 billion provision for Ukraine — along with aid for Israel and Taiwan — which former President Donald Trump attacked for not being provided in the form of a loan.
“WE SHOULD NEVER GIVE MONEY ANYMORE WITHOUT THE HOPE OF A PAYBACK, OR WITHOUT ‘STRINGS; ATTACHED. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SHOULD BE ‘STUPID’ NO LONGER!” he posted on Truth Social.
It’s not clear if all House Republicans will back other ways to fund that big foreign military aid, but most of it would be headed to Ukraine. Johnson will most likely need some Democrats to help pass it.
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