By passing Ukraine aid, the accidental speaker became an unlikely Churchill.

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Republican Speaker Mike Johnson showed political courage that is rare in Washington and notable legislative skill for an inexperienced leader in forcing a long-delayed $60 billion aid bill for Ukraine through the House of Representatives on Saturday.

Johnson put his own job in extreme peril to stand up for a democratic nation victimized by an unprovoked invasion by Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and to bolster America’s leadership of the West. His actions could save thousands of Ukrainian lives, even if Russia’s determination to win a bloody war in which it is targeting civilians shows no sign of fading.

Johnson’s support for the bill followed a period of self-examination and a political evolution that is also unusual in the hyperpolarized Capitol. One of his senior colleagues in the House said the “transformation” involved prayer by the devout Louisiana hardline conservative, who expressed a wish to be on the right side of history.

Johnson’s piloting of the bill through the House, after months of bitter infighting that split the GOP, saw him side with the diminished internationalist Ronald Reagan wing of his party while turning his back on the “America First” faction where he previously made his political home.

Johnson argued that without the United States continuing its arms and ammunition lifeline to Ukraine, Russia could score a victory that would prompt it to march deeper into Europe, drawing the US into another world war. He said a failure to act would bolster the emerging de facto axis of totalitarianism between Russia, Iran and China. Two other bills that Johnson shepherded through the House in a rare Saturday session will also send new aid to Israel and Taiwan, reinforcing other vital US national security goals in two other world hot spots. Johnson’s decisions also preserved and prolonged the central planks of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy less than seven months before he seeks reelection. Classified briefings by US covert agencies appear to have played a major role in his shift in thinking — another factor likely to anger “Make America Great Again” Republicans who view the intelligence community as a “deep state” that targets ex-President Donald Trump.

But Johnson argued the international situation is so grave that the House had no choice, warning that Russia, China and Iran are “a global threat to our prosperity and our security. Their advance threatens the free world, and it demands American leadership. (If) we turn our backs right now, the consequences could be devastating.”

Praise from Zelensky, but Johnson has severed his ties with MAGA Republicans

The significance of the remarkable events on a charged floor of the House was underscored by a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had spent months warning he could lose the war if US help already worth tens of billions of dollars dried up. “I am grateful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties, and personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track,” he wrote on his Telegram channel. “Democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it.”

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