Following Iran’s attack over the weekend, US House Speaker Mike Johnson stated on Sunday that he hopes to provide Israel with wartime help this week. However, he did not specify if financing for Ukraine will be included in the package.
Due to political squabbling in Congress, American aid for Israel and Taiwan has stagnated. Johnson, a supporter of Donald Trump, the presumed Republican nominee for president, blocked President Joe Biden’s earlier request for $95 billion in aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, which had already passed the Senate.
“The House Republicans and the Republican Party understand the necessity of standing with Israel. We’re going to try again this week, and the details of that package are being put together right now,” Johnson told Fox show “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“We’re looking at the options on all these supplemental issues.”
Johnson is balancing his support for Ukraine on a knife’s edge because Trump and far-right House of Representatives members are becoming less and less willing to give billions of dollars to help Kyiv combat Russia’s invasion forces.
Trump and the speaker had a meeting on Friday in Florida. He stated on Fox on Sunday that he was thinking of arranging the help to Ukraine as a loan, as Trump had proposed and which Johnson claimed “has a lot of consensus.”
Biden meanwhile participated in a call with congressional leaders on Sunday including Johnson to address the “urgent need” for the House to approve the bipartisan aid package passed by the Senate.
“On the call, the president discussed the urgent need for the House of Representatives to pass the national security supplemental as soon as possible,” the White House said in a statement.
Several House conservatives have said they want stricter US migration policies added to any security aid package.
“I for one am prepared to help Ukraine, but I want to see us deal with the southern border,” Senator Marco Rubio told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, adding: “If the Senate were to send the House a (standalone) Israel aid bill on Monday, the House will pass it.”
