US House Speaker Republican-controlled chamber would vote this week on aid bills for Ukraine and Israel.
Washington:
US House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that his Republican-controlled chamber would vote this week on aid bills for Ukraine and Israel, after months of stalling over pressure from his party’s right-wing.
“This week, we will consider separate bills with a structured and germane amendment process to… fund our ally Israel, support Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression, strengthen our allies in the Indo-Pacific (and ) pass additional measures to counter our adversaries and strengthen our national security,” Johnson said on X.
US assistance has languished in a divided Congress, with Johnson — an ally of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — blocking an earlier $95 billion in aid sought by Biden for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. This bill had passed the Senate.
“We won’t be voting on the Senate supplemental in its current form,” Johnson told reporters Monday, referring to the $95 billion package, “but we will vote on each of these measures separately in four different pieces.”
Earlier Tuesday, the White House ruled out any bill that only contained aid for Israel.
“We will not accept a standalone. A standalone would not help Israel and Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing.
Johnson is walking a knife-edge on aid for Ukraine, as Trump and far-right lawmakers in the House of Representatives have grown skeptical of pouring billions of dollars into Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invading forces.
Ukraine has in recent months grown increasingly frustrated at delays in Western aid, including air defenses it says are urgently needed to repel Russian attacks.
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