Hooray for Speaker Mike Johnson and his bid to get Ukraine aid at last

Opinion

editorial

By Post Editorial Board

Three hearty cheers for Speaker Mike Johnson for vowing to bring a vote on military assistance for Ukraine when the House returns on April 9, despite resistance from misguided Republicans.

Johnson says he’ll push for further aid for the besieged US ally, which is now extremely low on ammo and risks major setbacks in its war to repel Russia.

Johnson floated some new ways to fund such aid, including by using the seized assets of Russian oligarchs and via loans Ukraine would repay “when the time is right.”

Both those ideas sound perfectly fine, as does direct aid.

Remember, most funding for Ukraine, in any form, goes to American companies that replenish US military stocks sent to Kyiv.

More important, Ukraine, a key ally, is desperate for weapons and supplies, and it’s proven it can use them successfully to resist Moscow’s advances.

Preventing Russia from gobbling up Ukraine is absolutely vital, lest Vladimir Putin be emboldened and trigger an even broader war — doubtless, involving the United States.

That’s why an overwhelming majority of Americans (60%, per an Associated Press-NORC poll last month) believe Washington has been sending Ukraine “about the right amount” of aid, or even “too little,” for its war effort.

Yet among Republicans (once upon a time, known for championing national security), some are simply blind to the threat.

Or don’t think stopping Russia is worth the dough, even though the amount under consideration — $60 billion in a Senate bill — is less than 1% of the federal budget.

Fine. If it’s a question of money, what would these shortsighted GOPers have against a loan that Ukraine repays later?

Or confiscated Russian funds, which legitimately should go to Ukraine as a victim of Moscow’s criminal invasion?

Some GOP extremists are drunk on their power to threaten the speaker — after all, they ousted the last one, Kevin McCarthy, for the “crime” of averting a government shutdown.

They also fantasize about using Ukraine aid as a bargaining chip to demand fixes for the border.

Marjorie Greene Taylor has already taken a first step toward trying to unseat Johnson.

Yet GOPers tried and failed in their bid to hold the aid as ransom for border fixes, and the situation in Ukraine is now beyond urgent.

Nor do Democrats have to join the Republican renegades; indeed, they can — should — refuse to play along with the GOP extremists: If MTG & Co. force a new speaker vote, enough Dems can abstain to leave Johnson in charge.

If they don’t, Americans will know they’ve put politics over national security.

Fact is, most of the House backs Ukraine aid.

With so much at stake, there’s no good reason to stop Johnson from getting it passed. ASAP.