It's a trap. If the House changes the bill, it has to pass through the Senate again, which is not guaranteed. This talk is intended to distract from the Discharge Petition that was initiated by a Democrat to approve the Senate's bill. The hardliner Republicans, first and foremost Mike Johnson, have made it crystal clear through their actions that they have no intentions of helping Ukraine. The Democrats built golden bridges by agreeing to border security measures which many of them find abhorrent, and by agreeing to combine it with help for Israel, which some Democrats also don't like at the moment. And still Johnson flatly refused to even consider it.

Speaker Johnson says the right things ("No one wants Vladimir Putin to prevail. I’m of the opinion that he wouldn’t stop at Ukraine … and go all through the way through Europe. There is a right and wrong there, a good versus evil in my view and Ukraine is the victim here"), but his actions speak louder with a very different message.

[–] khannie@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

This talk is intended to distract from the Discharge Petition that was initiated by a Democrat to approve the Senate’s bill.

I did think that a distinct possibility alright. Do you know if that discharge petition is likely to get the required votes by any chance?

[–] Hopfgeist@feddit.de 7 points 7 months ago

I really can't say. But I definitely think that the latest efforts by Johnson serve the explicit purpose of making the Discharge Petition less likely to succeed.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It might be close. Not every dem is going to support it, the more progressive ones are very upset that it contains aid for Israel, and likely feel they have a moral obligation to vote no because of that.

But there's also a number of repubs that do support it, and are willing to go against their party leadership to help our allies. So, it's a messy one.

Don't think Mike Johnson wants to help Ukraine though. This is just him stalling for time.

[–] Hopfgeist@feddit.de 2 points 7 months ago

Don’t think Mike Johnson wants to help Ukraine though. This is just him stalling for time.

Yes, I think this is exactly what it is.