Mike Johnson's news-making first interview as Speaker

Mike Johnson isn't a well-established name in DC. As the new Speaker of the House, though, he's in the position to make news anytime he's interviewed. That's what happened last night when he sat down for his first interview since becoming Speaker on Wednesday. Speaker Johnson made news in his interview with Sean Hannity when he said that the House will pass a standalone bill appropriating $14,500,000,000 in aid for Israel.

That wasn't the only news on aid to Israel, though. Speaker Johnson also said that the appropriation of that money would include pay-fors rather than adding to the debt and deficit. In his interview, Speaker Johnson told White House staff that "I told White House staff that the consensus with House Republicans is that we need to bifurcate those issues."

That's making news in a different way, too, in that it's a major difference from Mitch McConnell's position on aid to Ukraine and Israel. McConnell is a pork-monster. He loves omnibus bills because that's how he shovels in the pork for his district. This is the video of Speaker Johnson's interview with Sean Hannity:

Speaker Johnson said that the U.S. can't let Putin prevail in Ukraine but he also called for accountability for U.S. dollars spent in Ukraine. At that point, Hannity made the point that I've repeatedly made -- that we should be in the business of helping Ukraine win. Otherwise, we're just paying for another 20-year war. I'M NOT INTERESTED!

Speaker Johnson said that a group of vets (he mentioned Mike Garcia and Dan Crenshaw by name) who've put together a list of "12 critical questions" that they're demanding answers to on Ukraine. Things like 'What's the end game?' are included in the questionnaire. Hannity asked if that questionnaire has been submitted.

Speaker Johnson confirmed that it's in the hands of Jake Sullivan. Speaker Johnson said that they're willing to spend money on Ukraine if they get satisfactory answers to these questions. It sounded, though, that there'd be problems if they didn't get answers or if the questions weren't taken seriously.

Speaker Johnson said "We owe it to the people to know what the plan is, where the money is spent and some auditing to know where the money has been spent. These aren't difficult questions." That's what accountability sounds like. I'm expecting Democrats to play games. I'm expecting House Republicans to not put up with the Democrats' shenanigans, though.

The House is definitely open for business again.

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