Johnson 'expects' to move on Ukraine aid with Dems handing GOP critics 'political weaponry': report

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has been blocking a vote on the US Senate's bipartisan bill passed four weeks ago that would aid Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

Some Republican leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have grown frustrated with the Speaker's refusal to taking the legislation to the House floor. CBS News reporter Alan He reported earlier this week that McConnell said, "We don't have time for all of this. We've got a bill that got 70 votes in the Senate. Give members of the House of Representatives an opportunity to vote on it. That's the solution."

Politico exclusively reports Johnson told the news outlet Thursday that now "expects to pass a future Ukraine assistance bill with Democratic votes," which would go against what some of his far-right colleagues want.

READ MORE: 'We don’t have time for all of this': McConnell pressures Johnson to hold vote on Ukraine aid

The news outlet reports the Speaker said during the "House Republican retreat that aid to both Ukraine and Israel could come up as one or even two separate bills," and that "he anticipates it would happen using the House’s suspension calendar, which he’s used often in recent days to overcome pushback from his own party."

Referring to his far-right Freedom Caucus colleagues, the Louisiana lawmaker said, "Philosophically, I’ve always been aligned. It is the tactics that we disagree upon," "I am a lifelong movement conservative, so there’s very little daylight between their core principles and mine. It’s the tactics that we have disagreements upon, but it’s never personal to me."

US Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Tuesday told MSNBC's Chris Hayes he believed the Speaker wasn't "moving to pass the Ukraine aid bill out of fear he will face the same fate as his predecessor, [US Rep.] Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)."

He added that " far right doesn’t have the 'appetite' for yet another change of leadership, and says Johnson should 'govern with a little more confidence,' and be brave enough to put the Senate bill on the House floor."

READ MORE: Democrats’ drive to kill Speaker Johnson’s Ukraine aid blockade nearing critical mass

Politico notes Johnson's negotiation with the Democrats "would hand political weaponry to" his "conservative critics, some of whom have warned that he could face a forced ouster vote if he moves forward on it" — like McCarthy.

However, the news outlet points out Johnson's comments "are the most definitive he has made so far on his plans for tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid that has languished in Congress for many weeks."

Politico's full report is here.