In just a few months, Speaker Mike Johnson has all but cemented his place among the House of Representatives’ weakest leaders in its history. Unfortunately, the Louisianan nevertheless has enough power to single-handedly block one of the most crucial issues of our time: bipartisan U.S. aid to Ukraine to defend against Vladimir Putin’s murderous expansionism.

It is not that Johnson is taking a principled stand by not planning

a parliamentary vote. Oh no, to hear him talk, he’s all for our Ukrainian allies

and wants

some

kind of help. But Donald Trump

do

not he is with Putin, as usual, and with Johnson in general

state where the former president is in charge. It is not without reason that the novice speaker is called MAGA Mike.

And no issue better illustrates than Ukraine the vacillation and subservience to Trump that have become Johnson’s hallmarks since October, when House Republicans ousted his predecessor, rejected several higher-ranking candidates and then, exhausted by the impasse, settled on him .

Moreover, no issue will have serious consequences if Johnson does not change course on Ukraine, peace in Europe, and the security and international status of the United States.

Johnson continues to ask the question and say the right, supportive things. Ukraine is the victim here. They were invaded, he told reporters on Wednesday, and yet they did nothing. President Biden’s request for help has languished as long as Johnson has been chairman. It has now been a month since the Senate voted overwhelmingly 70 to 29 to approve the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and the rest for Israel, Taiwan and the Palestinians in Gaza.

Give Johnson this: He can withstand a lot of pressure, at least when he’s safely in Trump’s corner. Lately, he has been receiving criticism of Ukraine from all sides, from the president and Democrats in Congress, certainly, but also from pro-Ukrainian Republicans and even foreign leaders.

Members of both parties in recent days tried to gather signatures from a majority of the House of Representatives on two separate discharge requests that would force a vote on aid to Ukraine. The discharge strategy is rarely used, and even more rarely successful, because the action is by definition a blow to the party leaders who have bottled up the legislation. But this may be one of those rare times.

Most Democrats have already signed a version

by

the petition that would simply require a vote on the Senate bill, and which would be sent to Biden. (The other petition concerns a reduced bill

adds border security provisions and

would require separate Senate approval and more time.) Ukraine’s grassroots must get enough Republicans to counter their party leaders and sign on

to create a majority. That is difficult, but feasible: the Ukraine issue is powerful, and Johnson is not. Republicans aren’t afraid of him. To meet the challenge, Johnson has suggested he is trying to draft an alternative to the Senate bill.

In the Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell has now had enough of Johnson

pussy.

In twenty years as a leader

McConnell has almost never publicly criticized House Republicans or told them how to run their chamber. So it was a measure of his annoyance

with Johnson

that he told reporters on Tuesday: we don’t have time for this. We have a bill that got 70 votes in the Senate. Give members of the House of Representatives the opportunity to vote on it.

Visiting leaders from Poland, Ukraine’s neighbor and our NATO ally, publicly singled out Johnson that same day for something less than diplomatic banter.

This is not a political skirmish [only] issues on the American political stage, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

Mr Johnson’s inability to make a positive decision will cost thousands of lives and affect the fate of millions of people, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

After Johnson met privately with Polish President Andrzej Duda, he made the kind of catch-all remarks he is now known for. The statement was silent about the aid law for Ukraine, which was still being announced: “

In an increasingly dangerous world with increasing threats,

America must remain united with our friends against those who threaten our security.

What do these words mean if they are not an argument for more aid to Ukraine?

The part that remains united with our friends is particularly rich. Contrary to what Trump and his America First Republicans would have us believe, almost all European and NATO allies have provided more aid to Ukraine than the United States, measured as a percentage of the size of the country’s economies. They are panicking at the prospect of the US withdrawing from Europe’s bloodiest battle since World War II.

As for those who threaten our security, Russia certainly looms large among these threats, at least to everyone but Trump and his sycophants.

Of which Johnson is one. And that’s the problem.

Johnson hesitates, insisting that the Senate and House of Representatives must first complete the long-awaited work of financing the government. But the annual spending accounts will not be finalized before Friday

[March 22]

, and then Congress schedules a 17-day recess. The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Alabama Rep. Mike D. Rogers, had a word for Johnson’s timetable: reckless.

While Johnson dithers, Ukrainian forces are rationing ammunition and ceding ground to the Russians that they could hold if they had a reliable pipeline of US-made weaponry. CIA Director William Burns and other U.S. intelligence officials recently warned Congress that Ukraine’s losses would only increase without U.S. help. If this country were to abandon Ukraine after promises to the contrary, it would not only embolden a revanchist Russia, but it would also embolden the Chinese in their global ambitions.

As Biden said in his State of the Union address, the necessary lifeline for Ukraine is being blocked by those who want us to abandon our leadership in the world.

Johnson would deny that he wants that. Let’s see him prove it. In the words of McConnell: Let the House speak.

And if that happens with a bipartisan vote for Ukraine, it will reflect the support of a majority of Americans. But first, Johnson needs to get out of the way. Or being pushed.

@jackiekcalmes