Challenges Mount for Speaker Johnson Amid Critical Ukraine Aid Decision

House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing a crucial week in his role as speaker, as he deals with the possibility of being removed from his position and the increasing pressure to make a decision on providing aid to Ukraine, a commitment he has made for several months.

During the Easter break, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has continued to criticize Johnson and urge him not to pursue any aid for Ukraine. However, Johnson has been working privately to find a solution that could be approved.

The challenge for Johnson is that he will need a significant number of Democratic votes to provide aid to Ukraine. It may be tough to create a bill that can garner enough Democratic support to help Ukraine and also include funding for Israel, especially after an Israeli attack that tragically killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen last week. As a result of the attack, more Democrats are now considering adding conditions to aid for Israel. This new development could make it harder to pass future bills in Congress that provide aid to Israel.

Rep. Mike Turner is pictured during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on April 7.

Rep. Mike Turner is pictured during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on April 7.

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GOP leaders are considering breaking the package into pieces, but it may be challenging to get it approved in the Senate.

Johnson is not likely to prioritize passing Ukraine aid this week. Instead, he will focus on passing a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. However, this effort could face party infighting and once again create tension with members of his right flank.

This week, Congress will address a number of important issues. House Republicans are preparing to send articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. Additionally, lawmakers will discuss how Congress plans to support rebuilding and recovery efforts after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge.

Will there be a second vote in the House to remove a speaker?

When the House reconvenes, one important question will be whether there will be a vote to remove the speaker, and if so, when it will happen.

Back in March, Greene made a surprising move by filing a motion to oust Johnson. This came during a time of conservative frustration with the speaker's actions during the government funding dispute. However, the motion still needs to be brought up on the floor in order to proceed to a vote.

If that situation occurs, the House will need to address the issue within two legislative days. This could lead to a tense showdown on the floor as the fate of the speakership remains uncertain. A successful vote to remove Johnson would need a majority of support. Alternatively, a motion to table or dismiss the resolution could be proposed and voted on initially, requiring just a simple majority to pass.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner expressed on Sunday that he is confident that Johnson is not in any danger of being removed from office.

Turner, in a conversation with Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union," criticized lawmakers he referred to as the "chaos caucus." He stated that these lawmakers are more focused on seeking attention for themselves rather than allowing important work to be done in Congress.

The threat against Johnson is reminiscent of when GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz took action against then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year. This move led to a historic and unprecedented vote to remove McCarthy from his position, causing chaos and turmoil within the House Republicans as they struggled to elect a new speaker.

Ultimately, Republicans chose Johnson as the speaker, but now he is facing a new challenge within the House GOP conference. The latest indication of the deep divisions within the party.

The House is planning to send the impeachment articles of Mayorkas to the Senate for further action.

On Wednesday, the House will send its two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas to the Senate, paving the way for a trial in the chamber.

It is anticipated that the Democratic-led Senate will likely vote to dismiss the case promptly. Even if the Senate does not vote to dismiss, it is improbable that the chamber would vote to convict Mayorkas, as it would need a two-thirds majority vote — a difficult threshold to reach.

House Republicans decided to impeach a Biden administration official in February due to concerns about his management of the southern border. However, they waited to send the articles to the Senate until the annual government funding process was completed.

Democrats have criticized the impeachment as a political maneuver, arguing that Republicans lacked valid reasons for their actions. They emphasized that policy disagreements should not be grounds for the rare constitutional impeachment of a cabinet official.

On Thursday, senators will be sworn in as jurors. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not detailed his plans for the trial procedures yet. However, Democratic senators, along with some Republicans, have indicated they may move to dismiss the case before a full trial. They could pass a motion to dismiss or table the articles with a simple majority vote on the same day.

On the other hand, some hard-right Republican senators are attempting to push for a full trial. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that their efforts will gain enough support to pass, as indicated by senators and aides from both parties.

Lawmakers will need to address the rebuilding and recovery efforts following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month upon their return to Washington.

Determining the full scope of what is needed and the cost will take some time. The federal government has various options to support the recovery, but there may be increasing pressure on Congress to approve more funds now that they are back in session.

It is unlikely that a spending package will be addressed during the current congressional session. Most of the funding for the recovery is anticipated to be from an emergency fund at the Department of Transportation.

Spending issues can be a source of disagreement in Congress, but when it comes to disaster relief and emergency recovery, there is usually bipartisan support. Some conservative House members have mentioned the need for spending cuts to balance out the costs, which could lead to debates when Congress tries to pass a new law.

The Maryland congressional delegation is working on setting up a meeting with Speaker Johnson. They want to stress the significance of Congress taking action to assist in the rebuilding and recovery efforts following the bridge collapse.

Congress needs to make a decision by April 19 on whether to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This law, which allows for surveillance activities, has been a topic of debate and controversy. The authority for Section 702 was temporarily extended until mid-April under the National Defense Authorization Act passed last year, but it is set to expire soon.

House Republicans have been split on how to address the problem, causing Johnson to seek a middle ground among various groups in his party.

In December, leadership removed two surveillance law bills from consideration due to disagreements within the GOP. In February, a speaker's spokesperson announced that the House would revisit FISA reform in the future to give more time for agreement on the next steps.

GOP Rep. Laurel Lee of Florida has introduced a bill called the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act. This bill seeks to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA for five years and also includes several reforms to the authority.

Section 702 of FISA allows the US government to gather intelligence by collecting communication records of foreign individuals located outside the United States.

Supporters believe that Section 702 is essential for protecting national security, although some lawmakers have raised concerns about potential misuse.

Congressman Turner emphasized that Section 702 is focused on surveilling foreign individuals outside of the United States, not Americans within the country. He stated that claims of warrantless searches on Americans' data are inaccurate.

He mentioned that if you are an American communicating with ISIS, your messages will be monitored, as it is important for national security.

There are internal rules in place to safeguard the privacy and civil rights of Americans during these searches. However, critics argue that there are loopholes that permit the FBI to search through collected data for American information without sufficient reasoning.

CNN’s Annie Grayer, Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer, Melanie Zanona and Betsy Klein contributed.

Editor's P/S:

This article presents a detailed overview of the challenges facing House Speaker Mike Johnson as he navigates the political landscape in the upcoming week. Johnson is confronted with the possibility of being removed from his position, the pressure to provide aid to Ukraine, and the task of passing critical legislation. The article highlights the internal divisions within the GOP, the potential impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the need to address the rebuilding efforts following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge. The article provides insights into the complex dynamics at play in Congress and the challenges faced by Speaker Johnson as he attempts to balance the demands of his party and the needs of the nation.

The article also touches on the ongoing debate over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the government to collect intelligence on foreign individuals outside the United States. The reauthorization of Section 702 is a contentious issue, with supporters arguing its necessity for national security and critics raising concerns about potential misuse. The article highlights the internal divisions within the GOP on this issue, as well as the potential impact on American privacy and civil rights.