WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

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1/ The House will vote on three individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. A fourth bill would wrap several Republican foreign policy proposals into one, including the seizure of Russian assets, and a House-approved bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. In total, the legislative package roughly resembles the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago. House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, doesn’t necessarily have the votes to bring the bills to the House floor and the House Freedom Caucus has threatened to oust him from the speakership if he moved forward with funding for Ukraine. Notably absent from the bills are any measures to address border security, which Republicans have demanded for months as a condition of approving aid to foreign countries. Further, it’s unclear if Johnson has the Senate’s support, given the chamber already passed bipartisan foreign aid legislation back in February, which has been sitting in the House ever since. (CNBC / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / NPR)

2/ A second Republican agreed to co-sponsor an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his job, less than 24 hours after Johnson outlined a plan to send aid to Ukraine and Israel. Rep. Thomas Massie, joining Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to end Johnson’s speakership, stood up during a closed-door Republican conference meeting and told Johnson to resign, saying “you’re not going to be the speaker much longer.” Johnson, meanwhile, dismissed the effort to remove him as speaker as “absurd,” saying: “I am not resigning.” Without Democratic support, Republicans would need a simple majority to oust their second speaker in six months. One Republican called the situation “a clusterfuck,” and another said: “We are screwed.” (Politico / CNN / Washington Post / The Hill / Axios / Wall Street Journal)

3/ House Republicans sent articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. In February, House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas, citing his alleged failure to enforce border laws, reduce migrant crossings, and secure the southern border. Their first attempt to impeach Mayorkas failed when four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the impeachment, but they were successful on their second try by a single vote. House Republicans have demanded a full trial, while the Democratic-controlled Senate i...

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