First of all, I believe Mike Johnson has done an excellent job as speaker.
It's been described as an impossible job, and despite that, he has made it work.
His surprise ascension to the speakership, in my mind, shows again the hidden hand of Providence in our nation's history.
Johnson has done the right thing on the border while demanding accountability for any funding for Ukraine.
But he is handcuffed.
Democrats control both the Senate and White House.
As the minority partner in our government, he has less leverage, but he wields a veto power by blocking any congressional action.
Johnson has wielded that veto power on Ukraine, holding out with demands that we get our border fixed.
I commend him for doing so.
The public has heard his message, and polls show they agree with him.
But so far, Biden and Senate Democrats won't budge.
They also won't agree to House demands that any aid funding be deducted from already appropriated monies for programs the GOP doesn't like.
This past December, Johnson was willing to pass a strong Ukraine funding bill — if Senate Democrats agreed to serious funding for border security.
As Johnson put it, Democrats in the Senate then turned a border bill into an immigration and amnesty bill.
Such a proposal along with Ukraine funding, he added, was "dead on arrival."
I completely understand his frustration.
But we are now at a turning point with Ukraine.
Russia is advancing and apparently rapidly.
Biden administration incompetence and their slow-walking of aid in the past two years, has put Ukraine in a most dangerous spot.
Ukraine just lost over 45 square miles of territory to Russia in the last 12 months.
Meanwhile, Russia is said to be preparing for a major offensive against Ukraine this spring.
At the same time Israel is facing war on multiple fronts.
Israel, like Ukraine, desperately needs funding.
Both are critically important for U.S. security interests.
House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul said our earlier aid packages to Ukraine sent a strong signal to China not to invade Taiwan.
But, he noted, failing to support Ukraine now, sends the opposite message.
Mike Johnson has been right to demand accountability from the Biden administration on their disastrous actions.
Biden has yet to offer a strategic plan — and an exit strategy for Ukraine.
With Israel, the White House strategy is focused on limiting Israel's ability to defend itself, crazy as that sounds.
Biden may be bad, but Putin and the Iranian mullahs are off-the-charts worse.
In almost every speech he has made since Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine over two years ago, Putin has made clear his nation is at war with the U.S. and the West.
Putin sees Ukraine as just a stopping point.
I put nothing past Putin and believe if he is not stopped, he will continue, perhaps even escalating to nuclear weapons.
Just this past week, Poland's foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, made a public plea to Johnson to pass funding, suggesting that if Ukraine falls, NATO itself could see an attack.
Sikorski directed his comment "personally to Speaker Mike Johnson: please let democracy take its course. Please let's pass this to a vote."
I believe the best way to deal with Russia's danger is to show resolve: punch back hard.
I do not favor a larger war with Russia. I don't want to "defeat" Russia. I don't believe in forever wars.
But I believe Ukrainians are dying for their freedom. It's a noble cause that, in reality, protects us and our freedom.
We should send them aid.
The level of Russia's barbarity in Ukraine has been beyond anything since Hitler and Stalin.
During this war we have witnessed Russia's mass killings, mass deportations, even abductions of thousands of children from their families. Ukrainian POWs have been beheaded, tortured, mutilated, and castrated.
Biden administration screw-ups, growing opposition to U.S. aid fueled by paid social media influencers, and now congressional fights on aid, have only emboldened both Putin and the mullahs.
Last month the Senate produced a $95 billion bipartisan aid bill.
It's a good aid bill, but unfortunately stripped of all border funding.
Some $61 billion in the bill is earmarked for Ukraine aid. And almost $40 billion of that amount will go to U.S. defense contractors. So most of the money stays in the U.S. employing tens of thousands of Americans.
And fully a third of the Ukraine aid money actually goes to replenishing U.S. military stocks for weapons we already sent Ukraine.
The bill also provides Israel with $14 billion, including billions for urgently needed missile defense.
Frankly, this money no longer can wait. We're at a tipping point.
Republicans should not be the hold on this.
House Republicans revolted against Kevin McCarthy because bills that conservatives wanted were never discharged and brought to the floor for a full House vote.
Now a handful of Republicans oppose a vote of the Senate aid bill because they don't want any aid to Ukraine.
It's wrong for them to now block this vote.
We all know Biden made a mess of Ukraine and is working hard to do the same in the Middle East.
But the cavalry is coming. Its name is Donald Trump.
Republicans should give Ukraine 11 more months of aid to survive.
Then President Trump can weigh in and forge a peace deal. He can get the job done.
But for now, Mr. Speaker, this is a critical moment for the world and America's future — please act.
Christopher Ruddy is CEO of Newsmax Media, Inc., a leading news company that operates Newsmax TV and Newsmax.com. Read more Christopher Ruddy Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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