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Mike Johnson Is Very Close to Losing Control of the House

The beleaguered House speaker is facing a possible uprising over Ukraine aid.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is opposed to the foreign aid package the Senate passed. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing a test that wouldn’t have made his predecessors sweat: to stop a bill that may already have enough support to pass from coming to the floor at all.

Whether he is able to block the funding package that passed the Senate 70-29 this week — $95 billion to restock American weapons and assist Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — could make or break his coalition. As Democrats try to win Republican allies to advance the bill, Johnson’s far-right critics are watching.

“The job of the speaker, ultimately, is to control the floor of the House,” Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson told NOTUS on Tuesday. “Of course it would be a failure for the speaker to lose control of the floor.”