Mike Johnson’s latest move is utterly weird — and what the Founders intended

It took a long, winding route to get here, but Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has finally done what few thought he would be willing to do. The House this weekend will vote on a series of bills to provide billions of dollars in emergency funding to U.S. allies including Israel and Ukraine. The Ukraine proposal has plagued Johnson for months. He’s been warned that without more aid Kyiv’s stand against Moscow would collapse. He’s also been told that allowing a vote on this critical funding would spark a revolt among the right-flank of his own caucus.

Johnson has now chosen to risk blowback in bringing up four separate bills for a vote on Saturday. It’s definitely a more complicated option than simply passing the bill that the Democratic-controlled Senate bill approved in February. It’s also the most small-d democratic choice that he could make: Just put the bills on the floor and whichever ones get a majority pass.