U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would seek to introduce a war aid bill for Israel this week after the weekend’s attack on Iran, but he did not say whether funding for Ukraine would be part of that plan. .
U.S. support for both countries has languished amid political tensions in Congress, and Johnson, an ally of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has backed President Joe Biden’s Senate-passed agreement on Israel, Ukraine, It blocked an earlier request for $95 billion in aid to Taiwan.
“House Republicans and Republicans understand the need to support Israel,” Johnson told Fox News. “We are planning to try again this week and the details of that package are currently being finalized.
“We are considering options on all of these complementary issues.”
Johnson is already under tremendous political pressure from Republican lawmakers who are divided over support for Ukraine. President Trump and far-right members of Congress are increasingly skeptical about spending billions of dollars fighting Kiev’s battle against Russian invading forces.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to oust Mr. Johnson as speaker over issues including support for Ukraine.
Iran’s attack on Israel early Sunday increased pressure on Mr Johnson, but also gave him an opportunity to stress the urgency of approving the funds.
The White House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders urged Johnson to approve a bipartisan $95 billion aid package that would provide $14.1 billion to Israel and $60 billion to Ukraine. The bill has already passed the Senate.
“It should be announced as soon as possible,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told NBC.
Prime Minister Johnson has refused to take up the Senate bill in recent months. Instead, he is trying to craft his own bill, framing the Ukraine aid as a loan at Trump’s behest.
The chairman met with President Trump in Florida on Friday. On Sunday, Prime Minister Johnson told Fox that he was considering structuring aid to Ukraine as a loan, as President Trump has suggested, and Johnson said, “I think there’s a pretty good consensus.” Stated.
Some House conservatives have said they want to include tougher U.S. immigration policies in the security aid package.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden on Sunday took part in a call with Congressional leaders, including Mr. Johnson, to address the “urgent need” for the House to approve the bipartisan aid package passed by the Senate.
“During the call, the President discussed the urgent need to pass a supplemental national security bill in the House of Representatives as soon as possible,” the White House said in a statement.
Republican Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s Meet the Press that he expects the House to pass a broad aid bill this week.
“I think we’ll have overwhelming support for both Ukraine and Israel and the Asia package, not just because of what happened with Iran as the conflict escalates in the Middle East, but because these are allies that need and deserve our support. is.”
Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
