Speaker says he’ll push for aid to Israel, Ukraine, Asia allies this week
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he will try to advance 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 under immense political pressure from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch between the Republican Party’s divided support for helping Kyiv defend itself from Moscow’s invasion.
The speaker has sat for two months on a $95 billion supplemental package that would send support to the U.S. allies, as well as provide humanitarian aid for civilians in Ukraine and Gaza, and funding to replenish U.S. weapons provided to Taiwan.
The unprecedented attack by Iran on Israel early Sunday further ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson, but it also gave him an opportunity to underscore the urgency of approving the funding.
Johnson told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and Republicans “understand the necessity of standing with Israel” and he would try to advance the aid.
“The details of that package are being put together right now,” he said.
At a news conference, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said President Joe Biden held a phone call Sunday with the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, including Johnson.
The New York Democrat said 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.”
In Ukraine on Sunday, more civilians died as analysts warned that delays in U.S. military assistance would see Kyiv struggle to fight off Russian offensives.
One man was killed after a Russian drone hit the truck he was driving in the Sumy region, the local prosecutor’s office said.
Elsewhere, a 67-yearold woman was killed after shelling hit an apartment block in the Donetsk region, Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.
The news came as the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, warned that delays in military assistance would increasingly hamper Ukraine’s ability to push back Russian advances.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby called on the House speaker to put that package “on the floor as soon as possible.”