A “slew” of House Republicans will sign on to a petition to vote on the Senate-passed foreign aid bill, one member tells the Sun. Speaker Johnson announced on Monday that he would be introducing his own aid package, though it could fail in the House due to objections from conservatives. If that bill fails, the Senate proposal is likely to receive a vote. 

“It’s  anarchy,” Congressman Don Bacon, a Republican retired Air Force brigadier general, says. He tells the Sun that there will be enough Republicans signing on to a discharge petition in the House for the Senate bill should Mr. Johnson’s proposal fall flat. 

“These folks can vote no on the floor, but it’s not good enough for them. They want to stop any vote, period,” Mr. Bacon says. “The will of the Congress has to vote for Ukraine. … But they want to prevent any vote on this. And it’s not right.”

“I bet you 75 percent of the House vote yes for Israel and for Ukraine, even if they’re voted on separately,” he adds. 

Of his conservative colleagues who want to kill the aid package, Mr. Bacon says: “These people are begging to be in the minority.”

On Wednesday, the speaker unveiled an aid bill that includes funding for Ukraine and Israel, as well as investments in the Indo-Pacific region. Each of the components will be voted on individually, and whatever parts make it through the House will be sent to the Senate as one piece of legislation. 

In order to mollify his right flank, Mr. Johnson has promised a separate vote on a border security bill. Conservatives aren’t willing to go along, however. 

“The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid — while unquestionably,  dangerous criminals, terrorists, and fentanyl pour across our border,” a Freedom Caucus member, Congressman Chip Roy, said on X. “The border ‘vote’ in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose.”

Because Republicans have issued a “72-hour rule” that gives members three full days to read through and analyze legislation, Mr. Johnson’s bill will receive a vote on Saturday at the earliest. 

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed Mr. Roy’s sentiments. “The House passed $14 Billion for Israel aid in November and the Senate refuses to pass it. You, Speaker Johnson, voted against $300 million for Ukraine before. … No one understands why it is now your top priority to give Ukraine $60 billion more dollars.”

“You are seriously out of step with Republicans by continuing to pass bills dependent on Democrats,” she said. 

The legislation includes a $10 billion loan to Ukraine for economic assistance, though that loan is waivable. 

President Biden says he is on board with the proposal Mr. Johnson has released. “Israel is facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine is facing continued bombardment from Russia that has intensified dramatically in the last month,” the White House said in a statement. “The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow. I will sign this into law immediately.”

The biggest hurdle for the speaker is getting his bill through the House Rules Committee, which Speaker McCarthy stacked with hard-right members in exchange for being elected speaker in January 2023. All three of those conservative members — Mr. Roy, Congressman Ralph Norman, and Congressman Thomas Massie — have a veto over party-line bills in committee. It’s a small panel with just 13 members: four Democrats and nine Republicans. 

If no Democrats join with the six moderate Rules Committee Republicans, then the bill won’t even reach the floor. 

Mr. Johnson is putting his job on the line by pushing through a measure. Ms. Greene has already filed a motion to vacate against the speaker after he put a government funding bill up for a vote in March. Mr. Massie announced on Tuesday that he would co-sponsor the motion after the release of the foreign aid bill. 

“I told him to resign,” Mr. Massie said of the speaker after leaving that meeting Tuesday. “We need a speaker who won’t do everything Chuck Schumer tells him to do.

“There’s only one person right now who could stop us from going into what happened last fall, and that’s Mike Johnson,” he continued.