Once again, House Republicans are putting themselves in an impossible position.
This time it’s over President Joe Biden’s request for $40 billion in emergency spending for Ukraine, disaster relief, border security and other priorities popular with voters and all supported by a bipartisan majority in the Senate. However, a group of Republicans who oppose aiding Ukraine want it removed from the bill and barring that want to stop the package from reaching the House floor for a vote.
This leaves the Republican conference in the position of blocking spending that most Americans think is vital and urgent — especially new funding for FEMA in the wake of the Maui wildfire, hurricanes and other disasters.
Indeed, it’s likely that a majority of the House and even a majority of House Republicans would support exactly what Senate Democrats and Republicans will end up passing. The last time the House voted on aid to Ukraine, in July, efforts to cut off or even reduce assistance were soundly defeated, with well over half of Republicans joining all the Democrats. It’s unlikely that much has changed since then.
In fact, it’s likely that sooner or later the House will end up doing what the Senate and Biden want — but only after a fight that will make House Republicans look bad, force many of them to cast votes that could be used against them next fall, and perhaps even threaten Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s job.