WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday unveiled a complicated proposal for passing wartime aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, leaving its path to passage deeply uncertain as he rejected pressure to simply approve a package sent over by the Senate.
The Republican speaker huddled with fellow GOP lawmakers Monday evening to lay out his strategy to gain House approval for the funding package. Facing an outright rebellion from conservatives fiercely opposed to aiding Ukraine, Johnson said he would push to get the package to the House floor under a single debate rule, then hold separate votes on aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and several foreign policy proposals, according to Republican lawmakers.
However, the package would deviate from the $95 billion aid package passed by the Senate in February, clouding its prospects for final passage in Congress.
Iran’s missile and drone strike against Israel over the weekend put renewed pressure on House Republicans to act on the national security package after Johnson had spent the past two months mulling how to advance it through the political divides in the House.
As the House has struggled to act, conflicts around the globe have escalated. Israel’s military chief said Monday that his country will respond to Iran’s weekend missile strike. And Ukraine’s military head over the weekend warned that the battlefield situation in the country’s east has “significantly worsened in recent days,” as warming weather has allowed Russian forces to launch a fresh offensive.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, hosting Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the White House, called on the House to take up the Senate funding package immediately. “They have to do it now,” he said.
In the Capitol, Johnson’s approach could further incite the populist conservatives who are already angry at his direction as speaker.