Mike Johnson Stays, Aid to Israel paused, and more Trump
Welcome back to Politics Explained! Forgive us for the late upload, but this week and next week students across the nation are taking their AP exams which have kept us busy. Nonetheless, US politics didn’t fail to stay interesting as we’ll dive into Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to oust Mike Johnson, Biden’s stance on developments in Israel, and Trump’s trial case. Let’s get started!
If you follow us on instagram, you would have seen that we posted last week that Republican House Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wanted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson out of his position. The reason for this was Johnson’s support of an aid package for Ukraine, a debate that has been going back and forth in the House for a while as Republicans wish to focus on domestic problems before international ones. After Greene called for a vote to oust Johnson, Democrats joined Republicans in a 359-43 vote to kill her motion*.
President Biden has paused a shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel and promises to end U.S. aid of other weapons if they move forward in a full-scale invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza strip. This seems to be Biden’s final straw as his initial unwavering support for Israel has diminished over time. Although back in February Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against an attack on Rafah (suggesting that it would affect U.S. support) Netanyahu has proven to be defiant, vowing to act even “if we need to stand alone.” Israel has not yet gone forth in a full-scale invasion of a region where so many Palestinian civilians have fled, but we will continue to watch closely the actions of both Israel and President Biden.
Finally, as Trump’s criminal trial for paying adult film star Stormy Daniels hush money prior to the 2016 election continues to unfold, here are some updates:
For clarity, the trial is about whether or not Trump illegally altered business records to conceal the hush money payment from voters
Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen is set to testify this upcoming Monday
Cohen will testify to his role in negotiating the hush money payment
Defense attorneys and the judge want Cohen to stop talking about Trump
Prosecutors say they may be able to rest their case by the end of next week, as they also plan to bring in two more witnesses
Trump lawyers got Stormy Daniels to acknowledge she had no direct personal knowledge of Trump’s involvement in the $130,000 hush money payment, and that she didn’t negotiate directly with Trump about her nondisclosure agreement
*Definition of the Week (motion): a formal proposal by a member to do something
