Rep. Adam Smith says he trusts Speaker Johnson will ‘not abandon Ukraine’

Democratic Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.) said Sunday that he trusts House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) pledge not to abandon Ukraine and predicted Johnson’s ability to fulfill that pledge would give little reason to Democrats to oust him.

Johnson has vowed to take up aid for Ukraine when Congress returns to Washington this month after the holiday recess, though his party’s internal politics make this a tricky proposition.

Some Democrats have floated Ukraine aid as a condition for saving him from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to vacate the Speakership, which was widely seen as a warning for Johnson not to put Ukraine aid on the floor.

Asked on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” by Chris Stirewalt if he is willing to save Johnson, Smith said, “Yes, turmoil within the House is not good for the country in a variety of different ways.”

“And to vacate another Speaker would be a major, major mistake,” he said. “And also let me say, I’ve worked with Speaker Johnson for a while, he was on the Armed Services Committee when I was the chair. He is a decent, intelligent person, and I have a good, working relationship with him. What a lot of people miss is [former Speaker] Kevin McCarthy [R-Calif.] was very difficult to work with. He didn’t keep his word; he didn’t work with us.”

“It’s about that as well, but like I trust the Speaker, he has said he will not abandon Ukraine, and I trust him to keep his word,” he continued. “And if he does, then I don’t see any reason why Democrats would want to remove him as Speaker.”

Johnson has long said he wants to pass aid for Ukraine as the country enters its third year of trying to push back a Russian invasion. In February, the Speaker refused to consider a Senate-passed foreign aid package that would have included $60 billion for Ukraine because of its lack of border security measures. Conservatives had earlier killed a border security deal designed to be attached to the bill. 

Johnson said the House’s foreign aid package will include “some important innovations,” though questions remain on the specific details of the legislation. He floated the possibility of extending a loan to Ukraine to ease conservative concerns over increasing the national debt. Last week, he referenced the REPO for Ukrainians Act, which would authorize the president to seize Russian sovereign assets frozen in the U.S. and give them to Ukraine to use against Russia.

Johnson has been Speaker since October, when he replaced the ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Greene’s motion to vacate came after Johnson helped pass a sprawling spending package to stave off a partial government shutdown to the ire of conservative lawmakers. She said she would not immediately trigger a vote on ousting Johnson, calling the motion “basically a warning.”