Johnson faces threat to speakership over aid plans

GEOFF BENNETT: On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson spent the day juggling his foreign aid priorities for Ukraine and Israel with potential threats to his job from members of his own party.

Lisa Desjardins is here to explain So, Lisa, lots of consequential topics all being debated at once today.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

In the past day, some very significant breaking news, especially out of the House of Representatives.

And even by the standards of this Congress, the drama and the stakes for this week are perilously high.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Thank you, Mr. Leader.

LISA DESJARDINS: After six cautious months... REP. MIKE JOHNSON: It's a big day on Capitol Hill.

LISA DESJARDINS: ... Mike Johnson is now defining and risking his speakership with a high-stakes push to aid Ukraine and Israel.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON: I put out a preliminary plan, as you all know, on these measures to handle these matters, from Israel, to Ukraine, to the Indo-Pacific region.

LISA DESJARDINS: It's a big move, with reporters waiting for details, closely watching Johnson's fellow Republicans, after Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for Johnson to resign and said he supports a motion to vacate or oust Johnson introduced by fellow Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene.

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I'm not going to call the motion to vacate, but I will tell you that he -- if it is called, there will be a lot of people who vote for it.

LISA DESJARDINS: Massie says Johnson is helping Democrats.

But, today, most House Republicans, even rebellious types, backed Johnson as speaker.

REP. RALPH NORMAN (R-SC): I respect Thomas, but I disagree with that.

The last thing this country needs is to throw the speaker out.

REP. MARC MOLINARO (R-NY): It's a total waste of time and an absolute ridiculous concept.

REP.

TROY NEHLS (R-TX): If we're going to identify a problem, Mike Johnson, and I understand, but you have to have a solution.

So, who?

Who we going to put in there, then?

LISA DESJARDINS: As Republicans flirt again with chaos, allies are fighting to survive.

Israel is on alert after weathering an extensive attack from Iran.

And Ukraine is getting outshot by Russia sometimes 10-1.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told our Amna Nawaz that U.S. aid is a must.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): I can tell you, frankly, without this support, we will have no chance of winning.

MAN: On this vote, the yeas are 70.

LISA DESJARDINS: That aid has been paralyzed after the Senate overwhelmingly passed $95 billion worth in February.

That large Senate bill has funds for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and humanitarian aid, but it's unpopular with House Republicans.

Instead, Johnson would pass four separate bills that seem to add up to roughly the same amount, but with more loans and less grants to Ukraine, also included legislation about TikTok and humanitarian aid, though the amount for that isn't clear.

In this blur, Johnson is direct about his job.

He's not resigning.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON: We're going to work this out.

LISA DESJARDINS: But it's not clear who or what survives, as Johnson gambles that his resolve will not backfire.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON: We are in unprecedented times, OK?

We are in dangerous times.

This has been articulated here, around the world and here at home.

We need steady leadership.

We need steady hands at the wheel.

LISA DESJARDINS: Last week, a former Republican House member told us Speaker Johnson is like someone standing in a dike, trying to keep it upright.

Tonight, he is feverishly meeting with House Republicans, calling them and hoping, Geoff, frankly, to avoid another internal disaster.

GEOFF BENNETT: Wow.

Well, let's start, Lisa, with Ukraine aid, because, for weeks now, President Biden has been saying, if the House speaker just brings this bill to the floor, it will pass.

Is that still the case?

LISA DESJARDINS: Unclear.

But I will say it wasn't even for sure that he would bring this to the floor.

This has been an indecisive speaker.

This is the defining moment of his speakership so far, but he does major hurdles in all of these bills.

Let's go through some of the challenges that Speaker Johnson faces in the House.

First of all, there are some Republicans who oppose all funding to Ukraine.

I am told many of them, when they were in their districts last week, heard that from constituents.

Also, there are some who want more oversight in the bill of Ukraine than the Senate was willing to give on Israel.

Now, there are some in both parties that would like conditions on Israeli aid.

That is very complicated.

And then we have the border, yet another simple, not-at-all simple issue.

Some Republicans are demanding that there be border security elements in these bills before they can vote for any of this.

So, essentially, Johnson has two options now, trying to get all this passed this week.

The easy way, which would be with House Republican support, get all this onto the floor, get some amendments, have some debate.

But Republicans may not even agree with that.

So then he's got the hard way.

He needs two-thirds vote of the House, which would include Democrats.

If he includes Democrats to pass these things, then his speakership is on the line.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, how close is he right now to being ousted?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's the right question.

Incredibly close.

By my count, knowing just the two who support motion to vacate right now, 216 votes to keep him, 215 votes potentially to oust him.

Just one vote.

And I know at least one Republican who is thinking about also voting to oust him.

Now, one of the issues here, of course, is Marjorie Taylor Greene.

I just spoke with her a short time ago.

My sense is that she is not ready to pull this trigger this week.

She is trying to push this off.

That can change any day.

Now, if they do put this motion to vacate on the floor, as you well know, someone that can save Speaker Johnson, House Democrats.

However, a theory running around now is, House Democrats also potentially, if the math works out, have the power to install Hakeem Jeffries as the speaker of the House.

I asked them about this today.

And they said, essentially, if they have the ability to do it, they very well may.

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): Look, I think - - I feel very confident speaking for the Democratic Caucus that we want Hakeem Jeffries to be speaker.

Whether that happens in this calendar year or in January, that's the focus.

Mathematically, it's possible.

LISA DESJARDINS: This is some high-level game theory in a way.

I don't know if you have heard of the prisoner's dilemma.

There's a reality show called "The Prisoners."

Who do you trust?

Who is lying?

Who wants to make deals with who?

It is not clear right now.

The difference with this high-level game theory, however, of course, is, the stakes are impossibly high for this country, for Ukraine, and for Republicans.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's talk about this unprecedented impeachment trial of DHS Secretary Mayorkas.

What was significant here, and what was really just political theater?

LISA DESJARDINS: There was a great deal of showmanship today, and we will start with that.

This was part of pomp and circumstances.

This is part of the mechanics of how impeachment works.

This is the first impeachment of a sitting Cabinet secretary in our nation's history.

So, we saw the 11 Republicans in the House walk over those articles of impeachment today to the House.

There they are, the 11 members.

You might see Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican in the front.

She's the one who's led this effort against Secretary Mayorkas.

But there really was no action today, other than the reading of those articles.

To remind our viewers, there are two articles of impeachment here.

The first from House Republicans is charging the secretary with refusal to comply with the law.

The second is breach of public trust.

We have talked about those here on air before.

The Biden administration and Democrats, as well as a couple of Republicans, say, these are political, that there is no proof, that this is a Cabinet secretary doing his job.

And to that point, what did Secretary Mayorkas say today?

He was on Capitol Hill in a budget hearing, did not talk about impeachment.

Instead, what we heard from Secretary Mayorkas today was that he has an agency that needs more resources and that he needs more guidance from Congress over how to secure the border.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that's in that immigration bill that Democrats pushed that Republicans ultimately blocked.

Many of us remember covering that Trump impeachment trial, both of them.

How will this be different from the Trump trials?

LISA DESJARDINS: It will be faster.

This is what we expect tomorrow.

The Senate will convene shortly after lunchtime.

They are required to do that.

After that, the rules of impeachment are not really spelled out in the Constitution.

There are just nine pages of impeachment rules.

We think this could just be a matter of hours tomorrow, but we will watch it closely.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins, our thanks to you, as always.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.