Will the Foreign Aid Package Cost Johnson the Speakership?

Voices across the spectrum are predicting the passage of the House’s foreign aid package will further divide House Republicans.

Johnson’s Leadership: The National Review Editorial Board (Right bias) credited House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for getting the package passed and “trying every alternative to keep his conference together before moving to pass the aid with Democratic votes as a last resort.” The board concluded, “It’d be better if a Republican speaker didn’t have to depend on Democratic votes to survive. That this may be the only way to avoid another chaotic, pointless speaker fight is ultimately commentary on the quality of a fraction of the GOP backbench, not of the leadership.”

Foreign Manipulation: Anne Applebaum (Center bias) praised the passage of the bill, despite Congress “dawdling for so many months.” The lesson learned, Applebaum determined, is that “Anyone who seeks to manipulate the foreign policy of the United States … now knows that a carefully designed propaganda campaign, when targeted at the right people, can succeed well beyond what anyone once thought possible.”

The Founders’ Intentions: A writer in MSNBC (Left bias) argued Congress functioned “the way the Founders intended,” with less emphasis on partisanship and more on consensus. Despite this, the writer concluded the package will “place a target firmly on Johnson’s back from the MAGA-wing of his party. It is in effect a perfect illustration of how the Republican Party under Trump has been quick to turn its back on democracy when it doesn’t suit its authoritarian tendencies.”