Rep. Brendan Boyle (D‑PA) said enough House Democrats would support a Ukraine loan and protect House Speaker Mike Johnson (R‑LA) from a move to vacate if he put the bill on the floor for a vote.
In an interview with the New Republic, Boyle said there are “reasons for cautious optimism” in getting House Republicans to vote for President Joe Biden’s $60 billion Ukraine aid bill. While Sen. Lindsey Graham (R‑SC) voted against the bill last month, he has taken up former President Donald Trump’s idea to make any aid to Ukraine a no-interest, waivable loan.
“It’s completely ridiculous, de facto this will not be a loan, however, if at the end of the day it gets us closer to passage if certain Republicans want to dress this up and call it a loan, it certainly wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me,” Boyle said.
If Johnson “bites the bullet” and can allow for a vote on the legislation, Boyle said he thinks it will pacify Trump enough in order for it to pass. He added that if Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R‑GA), who has previously threatened to oust Johnson if he moved forward with the deal, made a motion to vacate, he was confident Democrats would support hi …