House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he will try to push through wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia.
Johnson, R-La., is already under enormous political pressure from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch the Republican Party’s divided support to help Kiev defend itself from Moscow’s invasion. The Republican speaker has been sitting on a $95 billion supplemental package for two months that would send support to U.S. allies, as well as provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Ukraine and Gaza and funding to replenish U.S. weapons supplied to Taiwan.
Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel on Sunday morning further increased the pressure on Johnson, but also gave him the opportunity to underline the urgency of approving the financing.
Johnson told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and Republicans “understand the need to stand with Israel” and that he will seek to advance aid this week.
“The details of that package are being put together right now,” he said. “We’re looking at options and all these additional issues.”
Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Johnson “has made it clear” that he sees a path to funding Israel, Ukraine and allies in Asia to get to the plan. of the house this week.
The speaker expressed support for legislation that would structure some of the financing for Kiev as loans, pave the way for the United States to tap into the Russian central bank’s frozen assets and include other policy changes. Johnson has pushed the Biden administration to lift a pause on approvals for liquefied natural gas exports and has also at times called for policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.
But currently, the only package that enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress is the bill passed by the Senate, which includes about $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby urged the speaker to get the package “on the table as soon as possible.”
“We didn’t need any reminders about what’s going on in Ukraine,” Kirby told NBC. “But last night certainly highlights significantly the threat that Israel faces in a very, very difficult neighborhood.”
As Johnson searches for a way to advance funding for Ukraine, he has had conversations with both the White House and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
With his job on the line, Johnson traveled to Florida on Friday for an event with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump expressed support for Johnson and said he had a “great relationship” with him.
“He and I are 100% united on these big issues on the agenda,” Johnson said. “When we talk about aid to Ukraine, he introduced the loan-lease concept which is really important and I think he has a lot of support.”
But Trump, with his “America First” agenda, has inspired many Republicans to push for a more isolationist position. Support for Ukraine has steadily eroded in the roughly two years since the war began, and a cause that once enjoyed broad support has become one of Johnson’s most difficult issues.
When he returns to Washington on Monday, Johnson will also face a contingent of conservatives already angry at the way he has led the House in maintaining much of the status quo on both government spending and, more recently, a government surveillance tool American.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, has called for Johnson’s ouster. She left the Capitol on Friday, telling reporters that support for her efforts was growing.
While no other Republicans have openly sided with Greene, a growing number of hardline conservatives are openly disparaging Johnson and challenging his leadership.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine are increasingly frustrated by the months-long wait to get it to the House. Kiev’s troops are running out of ammunition and Russia is emboldened as it tries to gain ground in a spring and summer offensive. Last week a massive missile and drone attack destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants and damaged others.
“Russia is starting to gain ground. Ukraine is starting to lose the ability to defend itself,” Turner said. “The United States must step up and provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs.”
The divided dynamic has forced Johnson to try to put together a package that delivers some policy victories for Republicans while also keeping Democrats on board. Democrats, however, have repeatedly called on the speaker to put on the table the $95 billion package approved by the Senate in February.
Although progressive Democrats opposed supporting aid to Israel for fear it would support its campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, most House Democrats continued to support the Senate package.
“The reason the Senate bill is the only bill is because of the urgency,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week. “We pass the bill in the Senate, it goes directly to the president’s desk and we immediately start getting aid to Ukraine. This is the only option.”
Many Democrats have also signaled they would likely be willing to help Johnson defeat an attempt to remove him from the speaker’s office if he puts the Senate bill on the table.
“I’m one of those who would save it if we could provide Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine and reasonable border security,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat.