House leaders work together to push aid for Ukraine and allies over key hurdle

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• William Brangham:

  On Capitol Hill today, one of the most significant votes of the year.

  In the House, the leaders of both parties worked together to oppose the most fiery voices in their own caucuses, pushing aid for Ukraine and other allies over a key hurdle.

  Lisa Desjardins is here, and she joins me now.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  William, this was a massive win for Ukraine. It was a loss for those who fear more involvement there. But it was also a day where we saw the House move away from the most conservative and liberal voices, a rare day to see that action at the Capitol is not always about the shouting.

  You could have missed it looking at the silent Capitol steps and gray sky this morning, but, inside, a defining day for this Congress and U.S. allies.

• Woman:

  Now is the moment. History has its eyes on this chamber.

• Man:

  Today, we are at an inflection point.

• Man:

  There's a lot at stake at this moment.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  The high-stakes vote was procedural, whether to tee up the four foreign aid bills. As dozens of Republicans voted against their own party-led process, watch the Democratic column on the left for a rare shift. Democrats moved en masse to vote yes, saving the bills and potentially Speaker Johnson.

  His political gamble brought a win.

• REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA):

  Even though it's not the perfect legislation, it's not the legislation that we would write if Republicans were in charge of both the House the Senate and the White House, this is the best possible product that we can get under these circumstances to take care of these really important obligations.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But, within minutes, signs of possible trouble ahead for Johnson.

• Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA):

  Basically, Steve, a Civil War has broken out in the House of Representatives.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Georgia CongressWoMan Marjorie Taylor Greene went online to say she is working to get more votes to oust him.

• Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene:

  If you're a Republican voter or Republican donor, this should really give you pause to ask what exactly is happening to the Republican Party right now.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  The package of four bills at the heart of this is big dollars, $95 billion, with far reach. The most muscle goes to two countries.

  Ukraine, the piece that divides Republicans the most, accounts for nearly $61 billion. That includes over 20 billion to replenish U.S. stockpiles and $14 billion for weapons. About $9 billion is loans, which could be forgiven. For Israel, $26.4 billion, a large increase over the original Senate bill, it contains no additional conditions on Israel aid, a raw issue for Many on the left.

  Back on the Capitol steps, some hard-liners are considering ousting Johnson now.

• Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL):

  I'm not going to comment on that unless it's called out. But what I can tell you is, we have to turn this around immediately.

• Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ):

  My position is that I'm open. And I'm not going to tell you guys what I'm going to do. And we will see if that materializes. We will see if the trigger's pulled on this. That won't be up to me. But I'm definitely frustrated, like a lot of the conference.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Others point to a new push, vote on Johnson in the fall.

• Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC):

  I don't know that Mike will want it after what he's been through. He's taken a lot of heat. And, to his credit, he stepped up.

• Rep. Bob Good (R-VA):

  I think we ought to have a contest in November, a deliberative process, to select, hopefully, the speaker of the House majority. But I don't think it would be a wise course of action to do that now.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But still others pushed back.

• Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI):

  Bob Good is a bully. Chip Roy is a bully. And the vast majority of the majority are sick and tired of it.

• Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX):

  Schumer seems to be in charge right now, and that's frustrating for me.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But you want Mike Johnson to stay?

• Rep. Troy Nehls:

  I just — Mike — if it's not Mike Johnson, then who? We got deep into the bench.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Many Democrats defended their move as an easy choice.

• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL):

  We have to make sure that the chaos caucus cannot — which is the Republican Party, cannot continue to stand in the way of absolutely vital Ukraine — Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan military assistance.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Whatever happens to Johnson, Democrats see someone else involved.

• Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD):

  I think Trump plays a big role in this. Trump is somewhat of an isolationist, a nationalist, has sent negative messages to the international community since 2016.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Those four foreign aid bills are on track for passage tomorrow in the House. They will go to the Senate as one package together. They are expected to pass there, William, but we don't know the timing. It's the Senate.

• William Brangham:

  Really remarkable development today. So this was, as you say, a procedural vote, but can you remind us why this was so pivotal across all these different issues?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  In the Trump era, there have been Many questions of American identity, including the identity of the Republican Party.

  I think you can look at what happened today as something that could set the direction for existential questions about political and global direction. Here's exactly what I mean. Let's look at some of the things that were involved in this procedural vote today that it told us.

  This keeps us on track for current policy in Ukraine and Israel, major issues of public debate. In addition, one of these bills does contain what would amount to either a TikTok ban or forcing that company to sell. Here, we have a major digital impact across social media. There also happened today a loss for the Republican hard-liners.

  We have told our audience and everyone knows, again and again, those are the group that have spent this entire Congress saying we will not compromise. We think compromise is wrong and we are going to get our way.

  Today was almost one of their last real stands this time in Congress. There's not a lot of time left for this Congress to do business. These votes this weekend are sort of one of the last big items on the agenda. One other thing. This was a victory for Speaker Johnson. We will see how long it lasts.

  And his approach has been slower and quieter. And yet he emerged today, with Democrats' help, as the winner.

• William Brangham:

  You mentioned to me earlier that you couldn't find another example in modern congressional history where the minority party saved the majority party in this case.

  Why did the Democrats do this?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Well, part of it is what's obvious, issues of Ukraine and Israel. There are members, Many members in the Democratic Caucus that support one or the other or both.

  In fact, it's interesting. The party has become more of the kind of foreign security hawks than the Republicans. But I can also report from sources involved, sources aware that there was high-level talks from Democrats to Republicans saying over the past week and two that if, indeed you bring this full Ukraine aid, all the foreign aid built to the floor, Speaker Johnson, we will support you. We will make sure you're not ousted.

  And while I don't have the reporting that he tacitly accepted the deal, that's what we see on the floor. That's what we see in operation here. Another thing for Democrats, think about this politically. It really was a win-win for them. It showed that Republicans need them to govern. And also the Republican base is very concerned, very upset about this happening.

  They're getting phone calls already. Many of these Republicans will go home to their base and have to explain what happened. And Speaker Johnson's position with his own base is weakened. That's a story we will probably keep covering.

• William Brangham:

  Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much for all this great reporting.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  You're welcome.