For weeks after the Senate passed a sprawling aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Speaker Mike Johnson agonized over whether and how the House would take up funding legislation that would almost certainly infuriate the right wing of his party and could cost him his job.
He huddled with top national security officials, including William J. Burns, the C.I.A.
He met repeatedly with broad factions of Republicans in both swing and deep red districts, and considered their voters’ attitudes toward funding Ukraine.
And finally, when his plan to work with Democrats to clear the way for aiding Ukraine met with an outpouring of venom from ultraconservatives already threatening to depose him, Mr. Johnson, an evangelical Christian, knelt and prayed for guidance.
“I want to be on the right side of history,” Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, recalled the speaker telling him.
Persons:
Mike Johnson agonized, William J, Burns, Johnson, “, Michael McCaul of
Organizations:
Senate, U.S . Naval Academy, Ukraine, Foreign Affairs
Locations:
Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Michael McCaul of Texas