Mike Johnson To Push For Aid To Israel And Ukraine This Week | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson stated Sunday he’ll attempt to advance wartime help for Israel this week as he makes an attempt the tough job of successful House approval for a nationwide safety bundle that additionally contains funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia.

Johnson, R-La., is already below immense political strain from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch between the Republican Party’s divided help for serving to Kyiv defend itself from Moscow’s invasion. The Republican speaker has sat for 2 months on a $95 billion supplemental bundle that will ship help to the U.S. allies, in addition to present humanitarian help for civilians in Ukraine and Gaza and funding to replenish U.S. weapons offered to Taiwan.

The assault by Iran on Israel early Sunday additional ratcheted up the strain on Johnson, but in addition gave him a chance to underscore the urgency of approving the funding.

Johnson informed Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and Republicans “understand the necessity of standing with Israel” and he would do this week to advance the help.

“The details of that package are being put together right now,” he stated. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at a information convention additionally stated that President Biden held a telephone name Sunday with the highest Republicans and Democrats within the House and Senate, together with Johnson. The New York Democrat stated there was consensus “among all the leaders that we had to help Israel and help Ukraine, and now hopefully we can work that out and get this done next week.”

“It’s vital for the future of Ukraine, for Israel and the West,” Schumer stated.

Johnson has additionally “made it clear” to fellow House Republicans that he’ll this week push to bundle collectively the help for Israel, Ukraine and allies in Asia and cross it by way of the House, stated GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The speaker has expressed help for laws that will construction among the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the best way for the U.S. to faucet frozen Russian central financial institution property and embody different coverage modifications. Johnson has pushed for the Biden administration to raise a pause on approvals for Liquefied Natural Gas exports and at occasions has additionally demanded coverage modifications on the U.S. border with Mexico.

But at the moment, the one bundle with broad bipartisan help in Congress is the Senate-passed invoice that features roughly $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

White House nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby referred to as on the speaker to place that bundle “on the floor as soon as possible.”

“We didn’t need any reminders in terms of what’s going on in Ukraine,” Kirby stated on NBC. “But last night certainly underscores significantly the threat that Israel faces in a very, very tough neighborhood.”

As Johnson searches for a approach to advance the funding for Ukraine, he has been in conversations with each the White House and former president Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

With his job below risk, Johnson traveled to Florida on Friday for an occasion with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago membership. Trump expressed help for Johnson and stated he had a “very good relationship” with him.

“He and I are 100% united on these big agenda items,” Johnson stated. “When you talk about aid to Ukraine, he’s introduced the loan-lease concept which is a really important one and I think has a lot of consensus.”

But Trump, along with his “America First” agenda, has impressed many Republicans to push for a extra isolationist stance. Support for Ukraine has steadily eroded within the roughly two years because the conflict started, and a trigger that when loved broad help has turn out to be one among Johnson’s hardest issues.

When he returns to Washington on Monday, Johnson additionally will probably be dealing with a contingent of conservatives already indignant with how he has led the House in sustaining a lot of the established order each on authorities spending and extra not too long ago, a U.S. authorities surveillance instrument.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, has referred to as for Johnson’s ouster. She departed the Capitol on Friday telling reporters that help for her effort was rising. And as Johnson on Sunday readied to advance the help, Greene stated on X that it was “antisemitic to make Israeli aid contingent” on help for Ukraine.

While no different Republicans have overtly joined Greene in calling to oust Johnson, a rising variety of hardline conservatives are overtly disparaging Johnson and defying his management.

Meanwhile, senior GOP lawmakers who help help to Ukraine are rising pissed off with the months-long wait to deliver it to the House ground. Kyiv’s troops have been operating low on ammunition and Russia is turning into emboldened because it appears to realize floor in a spring and summer time offensive. A large missile and drone assault destroyed one among Ukraine’s largest energy vegetation and broken others final week.

“What happened in Israel last night happens in Ukraine every night,” stated Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

The divided dynamic has pressured Johnson to attempt to sew collectively a bundle that has some coverage wins for Republicans whereas additionally maintaining Democrats on board. Democrats, nevertheless, have repeatedly referred to as on the speaker to place the $95 billion bundle handed by the Senate in February on the ground.

Although progressive Democrats have resisted supporting the help to Israel over issues it could help its marketing campaign into Gaza that has killed hundreds of civilians, most House Democrats have gotten behind supporting the Senate bundle.

“The reason why the Senate bill is the only bill is because of the urgency,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the highest Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated final week. “We pass the Senate bill, it goes straight to the president’s desk and you start getting the aid to Ukraine immediately. That’s the only option.”

Many Democrats even have signaled they’d possible be keen to assist Johnson defeat an effort to take away him from the speaker’s workplace if he places the Senate invoice on the ground.

“I’m one of those who would save him if we can do Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine and some reasonable border security,” stated Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed.