Mike Johnson, the accidental Speaker of the House, has spent his seven months in power trying to be everything to everyone. Hard-right conservatives found him too squishy, like when he worked with Democrats to keep the government open, and establishment Republicans found him too conciliatory to the hard right for his attempts to appease MAGA diehards.

When it came to Ukraine, though, he managed to alienate both sides of his conference. Beginning last fall, the Biden administration issued increasingly dire warnings that Russia would roll over Ukraine if Congress didn’t fund more weapons for Kiev. For Reagan Republicans, it was a no-brainer, but for MAGA diehards, it was anathema to their America first beliefs. Facing a potential ouster like his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, Johnson dithered.

Even after the Senate passed comprehensive legislation meant to sweeten Ukraine funding with money for Israel and Taiwan, he dithered for another two months. Eventually the pressure grew. Establishment Republicans were ready to sign a discharge petition, a rarely used procedural tool that would go around Johnson and force a vote on the package. Then Marjorie Taylor Greene offered a “motion to vacate” that would put Johnson’s job up to a vote, which she could activate if he moved to help Ukraine.

Finally this week, facing what his Democratic counterpart Hakeem Jeffries called “a Churchill or Chamberlain moment” as Ukrainian forces........

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