GOP lawmakers slam Johnson’s foreign aid plan: ‘Strike line one on page one and all that follows’

Multiple conservative lawmakers in the House of Representatives attacked House Speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign aid plan on Wednesday, with one lawmaker suggesting the speaker start from scratch on Ukraine aid.

Johnson released the text of three foreign aid bills on Wednesday morning, which include separate funding for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region. The bills are close to a foreign aid bill passed by the Senate in February that combined funding for all three places, but Johnson wanted the House to vote on each package individually.

Texas conservative Rep. Chip Roy indicated that the speaker’s priorities were wrong by seeking aid for United States allies instead of the crisis at the U.S.’s southern border. 

“The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid - while unquestionably,  dangerous criminals, terrorists, & fentanyl pour across our border,” Roy wrote in a post to X. “The border 'vote' in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose.”

Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Good also did not like the proposals, calling for every “America First” lawmaker to shoot down the bills.

“Every true conservative America First patriot in the House should vote against the rule for this borrowed foreign aid bill with no border security,” Good posted to X.

Some lawmakers did not approve of specific foreign aid bills, such as additional funding for Ukraine. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., joked on social media that he could fix the House’s Ukraine problem by striking “line 1 on page 1 [of the bill] and all that follows.”

Given the backlash over the foreign aid bills, and the House GOP’s slim majority, some conservatives have expressed concerns over needing bipartisan support to get the bills through. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has pushed the speaker to pass the Senate’s bill, but Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon is attempting to court some Democrats to make up for the GOP losses, according to Politico. 

Johnson is hoping the legislations will pass this week, before the House breaks for a one-week recess, but it is not clear whether the bills will get the approval they need. However, President Joe Biden has also urged the lower chamber to pass the foreign aid funding.