Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday announced plans to send wartime aid to Israel and Ukraine, seeking to head off a right-wing uprising that could endanger his leadership.
The Louisiana Republican said he plans to consider four separate bills that have faced fierce opposition among some members of the chamber, separating support for Israel from aid for Ukraine. The third measure includes aid to Taiwan, and the final bill also addresses other Republican foreign policy demands.
After meeting with House Republicans, Prime Minister Johnson told reporters: “We will not vote on the current Senate supplementary bill, but we will separate these bills into four different items and vote on them individually.''
He said he hoped the text of the bill would be published on Tuesday and then adhere to the 72-hour rule that would give lawmakers time to read the bill and allow amendments before voting. If the bill passes the House Rules Committee, it could be voted on as early as Friday.
Prime Minister Johnson said he was still debating whether to combine the individual bills into one package before sending them to the House of Lords for approval, but that he preferred to send them separately. Ta. A White House official confirmed to CBS News that the chairman called President Biden on Monday to inform him of the plan to split the funds.
Johnson has resisted pressure from defense hawks in both parties to offer a deal. $95 billion package Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan passed the Senate in February with bipartisan support. Prime Minister Johnson has struggled to find a way forward amid growing rifts between Republicans and Democrats over emergency aid to Ukraine and Israel.but Iranian drone and missile attacks against Israel last weekend in retaliation for the attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month. increased pressure on Johnson The Senate bill is expected to be voted on this week. Supporters of the Senate bill believe it has enough support to pass the House.
A vote on aid to Ukraine carries the threat of ending his six-month term as speaker, defined by Republican infighting that has crippled the House.House Republican narrow majority Johnson has repeatedly had to rely on Democrats to pass major legislation, much to the chagrin of some conservatives. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened: trigger a vote on Johnson's removal If he moves forward with aid measures for Ukraine.
Mr Green said the proposal was “another wrong move” for Mr Johnson, but said he had not yet decided whether to proceed with Mr Johnson's ouster.
“I am firmly opposed to the plan at this time,” Green said after Monday's meeting. “This is so fraudulent.”
Asked if he could survive a removal vote, Johnson said: “I'm not spending my time worrying about a motion to vacate. We're going to govern here and we're going to do our job.'' .I'm going to do that.'' I don't know how that will ripple. ”
Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hahn, who heads the Republican Study Group, supported the plan, saying Johnson was “doing the right thing.”
Earlier on Monday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which supports aid to Israel, called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “resolve the emergency situation in Israel without offsetting it or guaranteeing our country's wide open borders.'' He warned against using it as a “false justification for forcing aid.”
Splitting the aid money into separate bills may appease conservative sentiments, but it also makes passage in the Senate uncertain. The White House announced Monday that it opposes the stand-alone Israel bill.
“Wow, that sounds complicated,” Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told reporters about Johnson's proposal.
Meanwhile, some progressives oppose sending additional aid to Israel over its response to the war in Gaza.Recent 7 aid workers killed in Israeli strike This is because World Central Kitchen could increase Democratic resistance.
While Prime Minister Johnson postponed consideration of aid to Ukraine, he brought up aid to Israel. In November, the House passed $14.3 billion in funding for Israel. Reduce funding to the IRS by the same amount. The bill never received a vote in the Senate because of Democratic opposition to IRS cuts. Vote again in February separate invoice They did not meet the two-thirds threshold required to pass.
MPs are also trying to bypass Prime Minister Boris Johnson and force a vote on foreign aid.House Democratic Party attempted to use a legislative strategy that rarely succeeds The petition, known as an expulsion petition, to force a vote on the Senate bill has so far not reached the required 218 signatures.a competitive effort A bipartisan group of House members pushing for a vote on a smaller foreign aid bill has far fewer supporters.
Scott MacFarlane, Sara Cook and Alejandro Alvarez contributed reporting.
