WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday. attempt to advance wartime aid He is taking on the difficult task this week of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia to act on Israel's behalf.
Republican Johnson of Louisiana is already in the House. huge political pressure He has come under increasing criticism from his fellow Republicans, amid divided support among Republicans who support defending Kiev from Moscow's invasion.The Republican chairman had been in the seat for two months. $95 billion additional package It would send aid to U.S. allies, provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Ukraine and Gaza, and provide funds to replenish U.S. weapons provided to Taiwan.
of attack by iran Israel's speech early on Sunday increased the pressure on Mr Johnson, but also gave him an opportunity to stress the urgency of approving the funding.
Johnson told Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and the Republican Party “understand the need to work with Israel” and would try to move aid forward this week.
“The details of that package are currently being finalized,” he said. “We're looking at options and all of these complementary issues.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also said at a news conference that President Joe Biden spoke by phone on Sunday with Republican and Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress, including Johnson. “There was a consensus among all our leaders that we have to support Israel and we have to support Ukraine. I hope we can resolve that next week,” the New York Democrat said.
“It's extremely important for the future of Ukraine, for Israel and for the West,” Schumer said.
The White House said in a statement that Biden “discussed the urgent need to pass a supplemental national security bill in the House of Representatives as soon as possible.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said Prime Minister Johnson this week made it “clear” to House Republicans that he would push for passage of a package of aid for Israel, Ukraine and allies in Asia. ” he said. House Intelligence Committee on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
He expressed support for legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kiev as a loan, paving the way for the United States to tap into frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes. Mr. Johnson has called on the Biden administration to lift a moratorium on liquefied natural gas export approvals and has at times called for policy changes at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But right now, the only policy with broad bipartisan support in Congress is a Senate-passed bill that includes about $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby called on the speaker to get the package “on the floor as soon as possible.”
“We didn't need any reminders about what was going on in Ukraine,” Kirby said on NBC. “But last night's events certainly brought into sharp relief the threats that Israel faces in a very tough neighborhood.”
Prime Minister Johnson is looking for ways to raise funds for Ukraine. In conversations with both sides of the White House and Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump.
Because his job is threatened, Johnson traveled to Florida. On Friday, he attended an event at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. President Trump expressed his support for Johnson, saying he has a “very good relationship” with him.
“He and I are 100% united on these big issues,” Johnson said. “When we talk about aid to Ukraine, he introduced the concept of loans and leases, which I think is very important and there is a lot of consensus.”
But with his “America First” slogan, President Trump encouraged many Republicans to pursue an isolationist stance. Support for Ukraine has steadily declined in the nearly two years since the war began, making the once-widely supported cause one of Johnson's most difficult issues.
When he returns to Washington on Monday, Prime Minister Johnson will also confront a group of conservatives already angered by his leadership in the House of Representatives, which has pushed to maintain the status quo on both government spending and, more recently, U.S. government surveillance tools. It's going to happen.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, demanded Johnson's ouster. As she left the Capitol on Friday, she told reporters that support for her own efforts is growing. And on Sunday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepared to move forward with the aid, Greene said on the X program that it was “anti-Semitic to make aid to Ukraine conditional on aid to Israel.”
While no other Republicans have publicly joined Greene in calling for Johnson's ouster, a growing number of hardline conservatives openly despise Johnson and rebel against his leadership. There is.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders who support aid to Ukraine have grown frustrated with the months-long wait for consideration in the House. The Kiev army is running low on ammunition, and Russia is emboldened to gain the upper hand in the spring-summer offensive.Massive missile and drone attacks destroyed one of Ukraine's largest power plants And last week took its toll on others.
“What happened last night in Israel is happening every night in Ukraine,” Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on CBS' “Face the Nation.”
The divided power balance has forced Johnson to try to piece together policies that provide policy advantages for Republicans while maintaining support from Democrats. However, the Democratic Party asked the chairman, $95 billion package passed The Senate passed it on the floor in February.
Progressive Democrats have resisted aid out of concern that aid to Israel would support the invasion of Gaza that killed thousands of civilians, but most House Democrats have balked at supporting the Senate's policy.
“The reason this Senate bill is the only one is because of the urgency,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week. “We will pass the Senate bill and it will go directly to the president's desk and aid to Ukraine will begin immediately. That is the only option.”
Many Democrats have also indicated they are likely to help block efforts to remove Johnson from the speakership if the Senate bill passes.
“If we can get Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine and reasonable border security, I'm the one who would save him,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freeking contributed.
