On 25 October 2023, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives was elected. After the successful motion to vacate the speakership of Kevin McCarthy on October 3, 2023, the members of the U.S. House of Representatives began holding an intra-term election for speaker of the House on October 17, 2023. Only on the fourth ballot of voting on October 25, not a much known Republican Mike Johnson from Louisiana State was elected the speaker of the House.
At the last round, held on October 25, 2023, Johnson received 220 votes, while Jeffries from Democrat left with 209 votes. It will be interesting to underline, that no single Republicans defected. Every representative voted for their party’s nominee for Speaker.
Johnson`s position towards Russian aggression against Ukraine
The newly elected speaker is a lawyer by training and a relatively little-known politician. He adheres to conservative views but does not belong to the radical wing of the Republicans. First time he was elected to Congress in 2016. He distinguished himself by opposing same-sex marriage and also supporting a nationwide ban on abortion. From 2019 to 2021 he served as chair of the Republican Study Committee and he was vice chair of the House Republican Conference for two years to 2023.
He supported Ukraine when the Ukrainian invasion began in February 2022. There is a post about this on his Twitter (now X).
«We should exclude Russia from global commerce and international institutions. Even though the best time to take these actions has passed, we must act decisively», — he stated that the Russian Federation must be pressured by sanctions.
As mentioned by The Hill commentator Tara Suter, in April 2022, Johnson voted for The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022. It was a bill that had the aim of easing the process for the U.S. to send military aid to Ukraine; sooner it was signed by the U.S. President and became law.
Then he changed his own position. And he voted against aid packages for Ukraine twice. The main complaint is that it is necessary to exercise full control over the funds that were allocated to Ukraine:
«American taxpayers have sent over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine in the last year…[and] they deserve to know if the Ukrainian government is being entirely forthcoming and transparent about the use of this massive sum of taxpayer resources».
Expected Consequences
The Financial Times headlines that the newly elected Speaker of the Congress is a Trump ally. However, the new speaker Johnson does not oppose aid to Ukraine as such, but advocates for more careful control over the allocated funds. And given that he unconditionally supports Israel and strengthening America’s position (that is, he is not an isolationist, like some Republicans), Ukraine has a chance to receive help if a number of requirements and conditions are met.
In his first after speech after the election Mike Johnson underlined that America always state on the side of good in the battle between good and evil. In his first after evectional speech Johnson underlined that America always state on the side of good in the battle between good and evil. What’s evil and who is evil doer in this case identify is simple – terrorist organization Hamas and its supporters and Russian Federation with its allies.
Some experts describe Johnson’s support for Ukraine as “very poor,” but the context plays an important role, as well as the position Johnson took. In his inaugural speech, he emphasized that he would seek compromises with the democratic part of Congress, which clearly means that assistance to Ukraine is not prohibited, but its volume and forms of control over its disbursement will be discussed.
Stanislav Kinka
