Both men are struggling to hold together their fractious conferences while clashing with each other on policy priorities.
After House Speaker Mike Johnson crossed the Capitol to meet with Senate Republicans for the first time over lunch Wednesday, senators poured out of the gathering with a pep-rally-like enthusiasm, promising to back the new speaker as he takes his first steps.
The bill, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says would add to the deficit, has been declared dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate. McConnell has said he is in line with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer’s desire to pair billions in aid for Ukraine and Taiwan with the Israel funds, as long as U.S. border policy changes are included — suggesting Johnson may not receive much backup from his Senate counterparts.
“I think McConnell’s position is very, very unpopular,” Sen. Rand Paul , long an antagonist of McConnell, told reporters this week, referring to the leader’s support for Ukraine aid. “I think ultimately will fail or bring down the speaker, which I don’t think is a good idea.”This puts pressure on McConnell not to provide Republican votes to pass any compromise legislation through the Democratic-controlled Senate that doesn’t have Johnson’s blessing.
“If someone wants another dollar for Ukraine, they gotta come make the case to me, and that includes Mitch McConnell,” Roy said. “He might think he can do his old guard steamroll crap through town, but I think the signals that are being sent over the last year is that there’s a new day dawning in Washington, D.C., and Mitch McConnell, frankly, it’s going to blow past him. It’s going to be up to the rest of the Senate to figure it out.
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