Speaker Johnson faces Ukraine aid dilemma and a threat to his job as Congress returns

All eyes will be on House Speaker Mike Johnson when Congress returns from a two-week recess as he navigates a thicket of divisive issues with an ever-slimming Republican majority — and a far-right threat to depose him.

Atop the list of contentious issues is a long-stalled military aid package for Ukraine and other allies. Also on the line are nearing deadlines to renew a controversial surveillance program on April 19 and reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration in May.

And lawmakers are grappling over funding for a new bridge in Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the break. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told colleagues that in the coming months the upper chamber could take up such issues as rail safety, child online safety and TikTok legislation following the House’s passage of a bill that could ban the social media app in the U.S.

Just five months on the job, Johnson is once again in the hot seat, facing enormous political and international pressure to make good on his word to pass new aid for Ukraine. While he has vowed to put billions in foreign aid on the House floor once lawmakers return, doing so could trigger a vote to oust him from the speakership led by one of his most vocal critics, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Donald Trump ally who opposes Ukraine aid and wants to focus instead on the U.S. border.