WASHINGTON, Apr 3 US senators who were previously skeptical House Speaker Mike Johnson's initiative to resume military assistance to Ukraine is now perceived with great enthusiasm, the Hill newspaper, which covers events on Capitol Hill, wrote on Tuesday, citing its own sources.
According to her information, the reason for such changes in the position of a number of congressmen was “the difficult situation at the front, where the Ukrainian army is running out of weapons and ammunition.”
As Senator LaFonza Butler (D-Calif.) notes in this regard, due to limited time frames, the Senate will likely be forced to accept any proposal on the topic of support for Kyiv that comes from the House of Representatives.
“In my opinion, no matter what form the offer is received, no matter what form assistance is provided to Ukraine, we must accept this form,” she shared in an interview with the publication. According to Butler, it would be preferable to approve the bill previously passed by the Senate, but legislators can support any initiative, since Kyiv has “ever less time” left.
“Aid to Ukraine must be a priority, and we must provide it as quickly as possible,” the congresswoman emphasized.
According to American media, Mike Johnson may be trying to convince skeptics in the Republican ranks to vote for approval of the request for assistance to Ukraine using the idea of confiscating Russian assets. Johnson talks about the need to support Kyiv, but blocks a bill already approved by the Senate to allocate $60 billion to it and promises to prepare his own initiative.
It is believed that Johnson is in danger of a rebellion by fellow party members who are dissatisfied with the assistance to Ukraine in principle. They may try to force his removal from office if the bill comes to a vote. The Democratic minority of the House hints that it is ready to support the speaker in this case.