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Republicans Erupt Into Open Warfare Over Ukraine Aid Package Vote

Published

2 years ago

April 20, 2024

Republican divisions over military support for Ukraine were long simmering. Now, before Saturday’s extraordinary vote in Congress on a foreign aid package, they have erupted into open warfare – a conflict that the vote itself is unlikely to contain.

Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, triggered an all-out split in his own party’s ranks last week by finally agreeing, after months of stalling, to a floor vote on the $95bn foreign aid programme. Passed by the Senate in February, it contained about $60bn for Ukraine, $14bn for Israel, and a smaller amount for Taiwan and other Pacific allies.

Johnson’s decision to finally bring the package to a vote made a highly symbolic break with the GOP’s far right, the people who engineered his elevation to the speaker’s chair last October after toppling his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. These Republican rightwingers – reflecting the affinity of their political idol, the former president Donald Trump, for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin – have grown openly hostile to Ukraine’s cause.

Speaking from the Capitol on Thursday, Johnson made no apologies for antagonising them, telling C-SPAN that providing aid to Ukraine was “critically important” and “the right thing” despite the potential power of his opponents to bring him down in yet another internal party coup.

“I really believe the intel and the briefings that we’ve gotten,” Johnson said. “I believe that Xi and Vladimir Putin and Iran really are an axis of evil. I think they are in coordination on this. I think that Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe.

“I am going to allow an opportunity for every single member of the House to vote their conscience and their will,” he said, adding: “I’m willing to take a personal risk for that, because we have to do the right thing. And history will judge us.”

The backlash was fierce. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the outspoken Georgia representative, immediately filed a resolution demanding Johnson’s removal, called the bill a “sham”.

“I don’t care if the speaker’s office becomes a revolving door,” Taylor Greene told Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, on his War Room channel. “The days are over of the old Republican party that wants to fund foreign wars and murder people in foreign lands while they stab the American people in their face and refuse to protect Americans and fix our problems.”

Branded “Moscow Marjorie” by former Republican representative Ken Buck, who said she gets her talking points from the Kremlin, Taylor Greene went further by accusing Ukraine of waging “a war against Christianity”.

“The Ukrainian government is attacking Christians, the Ukrainian government is executing priests,” she said. “Russia is not doing that. They’re not attacking Christianity.” (In fact, according to figures from the Institute for Religious Freedom, a Ukrainian group, at least 630 religious sites had been damaged or looted in Russia’s invasion by December last year.)

Taylor Greene’s move to oust Johnson was supported by the Kentucky representative Thomas Massie, who also backed an ultimately successful attempt to remove a previous Republican speaker, John Boehner, nearly a decade ago.

Other Republican rightwingers are unhappy, too, though they have so far stopped short of moving to topple the speaker. That might be because Trump, the party’s presumptive nominee for president who is currently on trial on fraud charges relating to paying hush money to keep American voters from learning about his alleged affair with an adult film star, has backed Johnson.

So have all four Republican chairs of the key House committees – foreign affairs, intelligence, armed services and appropriations – a position driven by the sheer urgency of Ukraine’s predicament.

More than two years into the war, Ukraine has a catalogue of absolutely critical military requirements, including artillery shells, air defence missiles and deep-strike rockets.

Johnson has tried to dilute the internal opposition by unbundling the aid package into four separate bills, with each to be voted on individually – apparently in the hope that the chance to vote against the bits they dislike (such as Ukraine) while backing causes more palatable to them (such as Israel) will placate the implacable.

Although the Republicans’ house majority is now whittled down to two, Democrats – who mostly back funding Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion – have pledged to support Johnson’s bills. That could mean Ukraine would finally get the US assistance it has so fervently hoped for: roughly $60bn in assistance (much of which would be to replenish weapons stocks provided by the US), including $10bn to be given in the form of a loan, a concept Trump has apparently endorsed.

Predictably, Democrats are gloating. Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic representative from Florida, moved an amendment to the Ukraine bill calling for Taylor Greene’s office in the Cannon building to be renamed the Neville Chamberlain room – in homage to the pre-second world war British prime minister notorious for appeasing Hitler – and asking she be appointed “Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to the US”.

While Saturday’s vote may settle the Ukraine issue for now, Republican divisions will probably rumble on, according to Kyle Kondik of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“The GOP split on Ukraine would remain, but the need for action (or inaction) in the short term would be solved,” he said.

“Johnson may be well-positioned to survive as speaker because Democrats may provide him some votes. But the GOP conference is so divided (and so small in its majority) that I’m sure something else will come along to cause more turbulence.”

The Guardian, UK

News

Why I Returned To Nigeria On Ivorian Jet — Jonathan

Published

7 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Jonathan has explained why he returned to Nigeria aboard an Ivorian aircraft following the recent political unrest in Guinea-Bissau, saying President Bola Tinubu had also prepared to dispatch a jet before Côte d’Ivoire secured an earlier landing permit.

Jonathan, who was in the country as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, spoke in an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, his first public comment since gunfire erupted around key government institutions in Bissau, prompting reports of a possible coup.

He said he felt compelled to speak “to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy and encouragement” after the incident, noting that he was aware of the national anxiety that followed the reports.

“While we were in Bissau and this so-called coup happened, the information we got was that the whole country was agitated, young and old, irrespective of religious or political divides,” he said.

According to him, both President Tinubu and Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara made arrangements to evacuate him and his delegation from Bissau.

However, the Ivorian team secured landing clearance first due to what he described as stronger regional links.

“And I sincerely appreciate Nigerians, and I want them to hear directly from my mouth to appreciate their concern. And secondly, to thank my president, President Tinubu, and the Ivorian president, President Ouattara.

“Both presidents were to send aircraft to lift us, but somehow you know Côte d’Ivoire is closer to Guinea-Bissau, and there’s always some relationship between the Francophone countries and the Lusophones, who are among the Francophones.

“They were able to penetrate their system to get a a landing permit before Nigeria could do that. So the Ivorian aircraft was already on its way to pick us up,” he said.

He explained that Côte d’Ivoire’s aircraft was already en route when he was informed that the Nigerian jet had received approval to depart.

“So when we learnt that the Nigerian aircraft were about leaving, we asked them not to bother. That is why, if you see the pictures, I was brought by an Ivorian aircraft,” he said.

Jonathan thanked the two West African leaders “and indeed Nigerians, young and old” for their concern during the episode.

“So we thank the two presidents, President Wachara and President Tinubu, and indeed thank Nigerians, young and old, for that,” he said.

News

Guinea-Bissau Military Takeover Is ‘Ceremonial Coup’ – Jonathan

Published

8 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has insisted that the recent military coup in Guinea-Bissau “was not a coup” and described it as “maybe a ceremonial coup.”

Gunfire had erupted around key government institutions in Bissau on Wednesday as soldiers claimed to have “total control” of the country.

President Umaro Sissoco Embaló also said he was arrested in his office at the presidential palace, sparking panic and prompting the military to impose a curfew, suspend the electoral process, close borders, and detain senior officials, including top military and interior ministry figures.

The Federal Government condemned the development as “a serious threat to democracy and regional stability,” and confirmed that Jonathan, who was in the country as head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission, was safely evacuated by a special flight alongside members of his delegation.

In an interview with Symfoni posted on YouTube on Friday, Jonathan said he was compelled to speak to the media to thank Nigerians for their concern during the crisis and to clarify the situation.

“You know, since I left office, I’ve always been scared of talking to the media. But in this particular case, I decided to speak… first and foremost, to thank Nigerians for the show of empathy, the encouragement,” he said.

He explained that during the so-called coup, Guinea-Bissau’s President, Embaló himself announced that he had been arrested before the military made any public declaration.

“I wouldn’t call it a coup. It was not a coup. I would just say, for want of a better word, maybe it was a ceremonial coup. Because for two things: It is the president, President Embaló, who announced the coup. Later, the military men came up to address the world that they were in charge of everywhere.

“Then Embaló had already announced the coup, which is strange. Not only announcing the coup, but Embaló, while the coup took place, was using his phone and addressing media organisations across the world that he had been arrested,” Jonathan said.

The former president expressed disbelief at the manner in which the incident unfolded, comparing it to other military takeovers in West Africa.

“I’m a Nigerian close to 70, and I know how they keep heads of state when a coup takes place. Recently, I was a mediator in Mali. And within that period, we had a military coup.

“The military doesn’t take over governments, and the sitting president that they overthrew would be allowed to be addressing press conferences and announcing that he has been arrested. Why does this happen? Who is fooling whom?” he asked.

Jonathan also called on ECOWAS and the African Union to ensure the timely announcement of election results, stressing that the military should not interfere with the democratic process.

“Basically, what happened in Guinea-Bissau is quite disturbing to me, who believes in democracy. They have the results because AU and ECOWAS officials were in all the regions when the results were collated. They cannot change those results.

“They should tally all those results and announce them. They cannot force the military out. They must announce and let the world know who won that election. Let the world know who won that election,” he said.

He further recalled his experience overseeing elections in Côte d’Ivoire, emphasising that election outcomes must be respected.

“A similar thing happened in Côte d’Ivoire when I was the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS. “When we had elections in Côte d’Ivoire in 2010, Laurent Gbagbo was the sitting president. In the first round, Gbagbo got forty-something per cent of the votes, and Alassane Ouattara got thirty-something per cent of the votes.

“And their law, you must get 50 per cent of the votes plus one, at least. Democracy is about the majority. You must get a simple majority to be the president, so they had to go for a second round.

“When they went for the second round, all those other candidates that lost now supported Ouattara, and Ouattara then got more votes than Gbagbo. And Gbagbo said he was not going, that he won the election, and that Ouattara and somebody who had something could not come and defeat him. But that is their law.

“Then all the observers in the international community said Ouattara won the election. And we in ECOWAS said, well, you are our colleague, but you have to go. If the observers, everybody, say Ouattara won the election, Ouattara must be sworn in as the president of Côte d’Ivoire. I stood my ground as the Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, and Ouattara was sworn in,” he said.

News

Nigerian Army Promotes 28 Brigadier Generals, 77 Colonels

Published

8 hours ago

November 29, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Army has approved the promotion of 28 Brigadier Generals to the rank of Major General and 77 Colonels to Brigadier General, in a significant reshuffle of its senior leadership.

The decision was announced by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Colonel Appolonia Anele, on the Nigerian Army’s X on Friday.

Among those elevated to Major General are Brig Gen O Adegbe of the Defence Intelligence Agency, Brig Gen SM Uba, Director of Defence Information, Brig Gen RE Hedima, Acting Chief of Military Intelligence Army, and Brig Gen RT Utsaha, Deputy Director of Defence Operations.

Others include Brig Gen AM Umar, Commandant of the Warrant Officer Academy, Brig Gen S Sulaiman, Deputy Military Secretary (Army), Brig Gen IO Bassey, Director of Nigerian Army Operations Centre, and Brig Gen CA Ekeator of the Nigerian Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.

Also promoted are Brig Gen SY Yakasai, Acting Director Procurement in the Office of the Chief of Army Staff, Brig Gen WL Nzidee of Army Headquarters Department of Army Logistics, Brig Gen SA Emmanuel of the Nigerian Army Signals, Brig Gen SS Tilawan, Acting Commander Sector 3 Joint Task Force, North East Operation HADIN KAI, Brig Gen MO Agi, Desk Officer Tertiary Education Trust Fund at the Nigerian Defence Academy, and Brig Gen IM Abbas, Commander 34 Brigade.

Brig Gen ZA Saidu was promoted posthumously in recognition of his service.

Promotions from Colonel to Brigadier General include officers serving across key army units and institutions, such as the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, Army Headquarters departments, Special Forces Brigades, and several military hospitals.

In his remarks, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Waidi Shaibu, congratulated the officers and their families, urging them to intensify their professional drive and prove that their elevation is well-deserved.

He emphasized the need for exemplary leadership, inspiring subordinates through personal conduct, and adopting bold, innovative solutions to address evolving security challenges.

Shaibu further stressed the officers’ sacred duty to uphold their oath of allegiance and maintain absolute loyalty to the Constitution, reinforcing the army’s commitment to defending the territorial integrity of the nation.

The promotions mark a strategic boost to the Nigerian Army’s senior leadership, aiming to strengthen operational efficiency and enhance the military’s response to national security threats.