Mike Johnson signals that he will not put a Senate amendment to a vote despite increasing pressure
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday gave no indication that he would bring the Senate-passed foreign aid supplement to a vote this week, despite mounting pressure from Democrats and some Republican lawmakers following Iran’s retaliatory strike against Israel.
In an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson mentioned that members of the House of Representatives were putting together details for a new package.
“We’re going to try again this week and the details of that package are being put together right now,” he said. “We’re looking at the options and all of those supplementary questions.”
The House of Representatives initially passed its Republican-led Israel aid package days after Johnson was elected speaker in October. The package, which combined $14.3 billion in aid to Israel with cuts to IRS funding, was considered a failure in the Democratic-led Senate, and President Joe Biden announced he would block it with a veto.
In February, the House of Representatives failed to pass a standalone aid bill for Israel without the cuts to the IRS, and many Republicans voted alongside Democrats against the bill.
That same month, the Senate passed a $95 billion national security package that included aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. But Johnson rejected the package after scuttling a bipartisan Senate effort to address security on the U.S.-Mexico border. And under pressure from GOP hardliners who warned him that tying Ukraine aid to the bill could prove detrimental to his role as speaker, months later Johnson still has not addressed aid to the war-torn country.
On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that the “best” way to help Israel was to “pass the amendment this week.”
“I’ve asked Speaker Johnson to do this,” he added during a news conference in New York City after a phone call between Biden and the four congressional leaders, including Johnson. “There was agreement on the phone among all the leaders that we need to help Israel and Ukraine, and now hopefully we can get this cleared up and done next week.”
The call included Biden, Johnson, Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to a Schumer aide. Biden stressed the urgency of passing an aid package for Israel and Ukraine and urged Johnson to bring it to a vote this week. But it is unclear whether the speaker will do so, an administration source familiar with the discussion said.
Asked on Sunday whether he was considering former President Donald Trump’s idea of turning Ukraine aid into a loan, Johnson referred to his meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday and said they were “100 percent in agreement on these big agenda items.”
“When it comes to aid to Ukraine, he introduced the concept of credit leasing, which I think is really important and on which there is great agreement,” he said, adding that he believes seizing the assets of a “corrupt Russian oligarchy” to finance the Ukrainian resistance is also among the ideas that could gain consensus.
“And that’s what we’re working on right now,” he said. “We’re going to send out our package, we’re going to put something together and send it to the Senate to meet those commitments.”
McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, on Saturday urged Congress to pass the additional military aid package that has been on hold for months. McConnell said the U.S. must stand with Israel after Iran launched retaliatory strikes against the country in response to the Israeli bombing of the consulate in Syria that killed two of Tehran’s top military officials.
“We cannot hope to avert conflict without showing resolve and making serious investments in American strength. The Commander in Chief and Congress must immediately fulfill our basic obligations,” he said of the package that ties aid to Ukraine and Israel. “The consequences of failure are clear, devastating and avoidable.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (Republican of Ohio) said Sunday he expects the House to pass the long-delayed additional military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan this week with “overwhelming support.”
“Ukraine is beginning to lose its ability to defend itself, and the United States must step in and supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs,” he said in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“I think we’re going to see overwhelming support for this in the House this week,” he added.
And House Majority Leader Steve Scalise indicated later Sunday night that the House would take “several actions in the coming week to demonstrate our support for Israel and to take action against Iran.”
As of Sunday evening, there had been no votes on legislation providing aid to Israel. However, Johnson said Sunday that Republicans would put together a foreign aid package this week that would then be put to a vote. He is expected to announce more details in the coming days.
Senator Marco Rubio (Republican of Florida), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed hope that the United States could provide aid to Ukraine while also funding border security.
“I for one am ready to help Ukraine, but I want us to take care of the southern border. And that was the negotiation, that was the conversation, that was the agreement. That should have happened and it didn’t happen,” he said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “What they came up with was unacceptable as far as the border goes, but I remain a supporter of helping Ukraine. But I am a big supporter and even a bigger supporter of helping America as an American senator. And so I hope both of those things can happen.”
Johnson, who has promised to pass new aid to Ukraine, has come under fire from members of a narrow Republican majority. GOP hardliners such as Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have criticized Johnson, arguing the funds would be better spent elsewhere.
Greene, who filed a “motion to vacate” to remove Johnson but did not comply with a vote to remove him, argued that Congress should turn its attention to the issue and allocate funds to the southern border rather than Ukraine.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) claimed on Sunday that Trump has “tremendous influence” over the Republican conference. He believes Johnson traveled to Mar-a-Lago to talk to the likely Republican presidential nominee about the Ukraine aid package and convince him that a loan program would be “acceptable” as direct government aid.
“Remember, the first lethal aid package ever to Ukraine that I signed, $300 million, came from the Trump administration,” McCaul said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “They don’t want us to lose in Ukraine like they did in Afghanistan. The impact is long-term – a weaker America, not stronger. I don’t think Trump wants to usurp that. I think he wants to help us get to the point where he can step in and finish the job.”
Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times expressing his opposition to Biden’s attempt to pass the additional aid package, arguing that passing the package in its current form would weaken Israel’s defenses in the war against Hamas.
“I think we should focus — I think Israel is a much closer ally, has a much more central American national security interest,” he said during an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And of course we need to focus on ourselves. That means encouraging the Ukrainians to pursue a defensive strategy.”
“This is really important because you’re going to hear a lot of calls in Washington, DC, that we need to pass the supplementary agreement now,” he added. “But if we pass the supplementary agreement for Ukraine and Israel and send a lot of weapons to Ukraine that the Israelis need, we are actually weakening Israel under the guise of helping them.”