(IntegrityPress.org) – Beleaguered House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R – La.) has found an ally in the head of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, Rev. Franklin Graham. Taking to social media on Thursday, April 18, Graham claimed to like Rep. Johnson, and said that he was trying to do his best for the country. Graham said that Johnson’s job is a particularly difficult one, and that there were figures in Washington D.C. who simply wanted to “eat his lunch”.
Graham’s comments on Johnson and his less-than-enamored colleagues at Capitol Hill come as the Speaker faces calls to resign from members of his own party. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R – Ga.) has launched a campaign to have Johnson removed from his post and claims to have garnered a good deal of support behind the scenes. On Tuesday, April 16, Rep. Thomas Massie (R – Ky.) voiced his support for her move and asked Johnson to consider resigning from the Speakership.
Johnson has faced a difficult task in trying to please the various factions of his party while still working closely with the Democrats, a balance which some of his more hardline GOP colleagues say he has not achieved. The Republican party has a decidedly slim majority in the House, currently standing at 217 seats to 213, but with further possible retirements in the pipeline, even that tiny bit of leverage could shrink in the near future.
Johnson had been cautious about advancing the latest $95 billion financial aid package for overseas military assistance, preventing the bill to support Ukraine and Israel from making quick progress into the House. While some of his GOP colleagues wanted him to take a more isolationist approach and oppose overseas spending, others were keen to support Israel and Ukraine in their hour of need.
Meanwhile, most Democrats had been in favor of more aid, although there had been some internal disagreement. With Iran’s recent overt strike on multiple Israeli cities, he was under extreme pressure to progress the latest aid package, and so did. The House passed the $95 billion financial aid package on Sat 4/20/2024, and it has now moved to the Democrat dominated Senate where it’s expected to pass sometime this week.
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