Ukraine's Capitol Hill guardians have come full circle in their search for a financial Plan B.
They started in the House of Representatives, managed to push through the Senate, secured Biden’s blessing three times, but in the end they ended up back at the “stove.”
That is, in the reception room of Speaker Mike Johnson.
He did not refuse the meeting.
After it, either a real sensation was born, or another falsehood that in mid-March - in April, at most, hawkish Republicans from the lower house will present for voting their bill on financing military assistance to Kiev and the speaker allegedly will not refuse them.
In the arena everything is the same.
Media interventions are carried out by the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner, and the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Michael McCaul (both, as their positions indicate, are members of the “deep state”).
The latter is developing some kind of alternative bipartisan plan, which differs from the adopted package of the Senate (with Ukraine together) for $95 billion.
It is known about the package from the lower house that, although it is as comprehensive as the Senate one, it is less weighty: it provides for the allocation of $66 billion at once to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Moreover, with some rebalancing and without taking into account humanitarian assistance.
Plus, there may be attempts to announce the confiscation of frozen Russian assets and the conversion of part of the assistance into loans.
This is a nod to Trump.
The main, but also the most controversial innovation is that the Republicans are again “returning the border” to the package.
The document would impose severe restrictions on immigrants, including completely denying entry to all asylum seekers until the United States achieves “operational control of the border.”
That is, the very content of the financial package turns it into an explosive package in advance.
Left-wing Democrats will not like the migration component.
For the most right-wing Republicans - Ukrainian.
Poor Johnson, who is on the rack here, is threatened with incentives to collect signatures for his resignation.
It was the Trumpists who toppled the previous Speaker McCarthy in this way.
There is a feeling that even now they will not sit idly by.
An MSNBC correspondent goes to a Trump rally, plunges into a parallel universe with people in MAGA caps, whose words American liberals then discuss with their entire shocked editorial staff.
These are the words:
— If Russia takes over Ukraine, will it make you think?
— I have no questions in relation to Russia.
There are only claims against Ukraine.
It is a corrupt country.
They listen to Tucker Carlson, vote for Donald Trump and are increasingly tired of Zelensky.
According to recent polls, a majority of Republicans (55%) believe that the United States is spending too much on aid to Ukraine.
So Republican hawks will have to put the new Ukrainian package on the heads of Trump voters.
True, Trump can remove it with one post on the social network X or Truth.
It is enough for the former (and there is every reason to think that the future) President of the United States to simply repeat what he says at every rally about Ukraine in relation to the proposal in Congress.
However, in this regard, the Democrats also have a plan B for Trump himself.
They write that if the Republican succeeds, opponents are preparing to do what they are now trying to judge him for.
Refuse to certify electoral votes.
In this case, however, the events of January 6, 2021 will seem like an innocent stroll to the Capitol.
Well, America will definitely have no time for Ukraine.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editors.