Johnson Pushes Ahead on Bill for Israel and Ukraine Aid, Teeing Up Weekend Vote
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday told Republicans that the House would vote Saturday evening on his foreign aid package for Israel and Ukraine, pushing through resistance in his own party to advance a long-stalled national security spending package for U.S. allies.
His announcement came amid a crush of opposition from Republicans who are vehemently against sending more aid to Ukraine, and have vented for days as congressional aides race to write the legislation Mr. Johnson proposed on Monday.
The speaker, whose job is at risk as he defies his right flank on the measure, also announced that he would hold a separate vote on a border security bill “that includes the core components” of House Republicans’ stringent legislation passed last May that would crack down on unlawful immigration and revive severe Trump-era border restrictions. The move was a nod to ultraconservatives who have demanded that the speaker not advance aid to Ukraine without securing sweeping concessions from Democrats on immigration policy.
The legislative package Mr. Johnson is trying to advance roughly mirrors the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago with aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other American allies, but he has proposed breaking that package into three pieces that would be voted on individually. There would be a fourth vote on a separate measure containing other policies popular among Republicans, including conditioning Ukraine aid as a loan and a measure that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban.
Mr. Johnson released the text of the legislative package on Wednesday afternoon.
The multipart plan has been painstakingly structured to cobble together just enough support from Democrats and mainstream Republicans to pass over the opposition of the hard right to funding for Ukraine funding and left-wing Democrats who do not support unfettered aid for Israel. If all four pieces passed the House, they would then be folded into a single bill for the Senate to take up, in an effort to ensure that senators could not cherry-pick pieces to approve or reject.
Its success will require everything to go right for Mr. Johnson this week to prevail.