New House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has urged President Joe Biden to divide his requested $100 billion in additional funding, allocating aid for Ukraine and aid for Israel.
Mr. Johnson was elected to the position of House speaker on Oct. 25, three weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was removed from the position.
According to the new House speaker’s comments in the Oct. 26 interview, the GOP is not likely to approve of the separate Ukraine package, opting to lean more heavily on support for the recently embattled longtime ally in the Middle East.
“I told the staff at the White House today that our consensus among House Republicans is that we need to bifurcate those issues,” Mr. Johnson said Thursday in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
In addition to financing for U.S. border security and support for Taiwan, President Biden’s budget request includes $14 billion to help Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and $61 billion for Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
House Republicans have been increasingly divided on the topic of Ukraine, and they worked to ensure that no funds were included in the continuing resolution that kept the government open at the end of September.
Even while he still backs the Ukrainian military effort against Russia, Mr. Johnson thinks the House ought to prioritize cutting costs.
“Now, we can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine, because I don’t believe it would stop there, and it would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan. We have these concerns,” Mr. Johnson said.
“We’re not going to abandon them. But we have a responsibility, a stewardship responsibility, over the precious treasure of the American people,” he continued. “And we have to make sure that the White House is providing the people with some accountability for the dollars.”
The lawmaker was also critical of the Biden administration’s strategy for the war in Ukraine, claiming that the White House has not explained the “endgame” for sustained backing.
According to Mr. Johnson, the House will present its own spending plan of $14 billion to help Israel, which is in line with the White House’s request. On Thursday, a group of Republican senators proposed a bill in the Senate to do the same thing.
Israel’s battle against Hamas, which was sparked by an attack on Israeli civilians earlier this month that left 1,400 dead, has gained overwhelming bipartisan backing.
“One thing that House Republicans are resolved on is that we must stand with our most important ally in the Middle East, and that’s Israel. We will,” Mr. Johnson said. “We certainly hope that it doesn’t come to boots on the ground.”
However, he stressed the importance of having sufficient funding in the end.
“We deeply care and are concerned about all nations of free people around the world, but we have to take care of our own house first, and so that’s also part of this delicate calculation and the decision.”
On October 26, Mr. Johnson met with President Biden at the White House. The meeting followed a bipartisan briefing on the administration’s request for increased national security funding from Congress.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre informed the press earlier in the day that Mr. Johnson had been invited to a “bipartisan briefing with leadership and relevant committee chairs and ranking members.”
Mr. Johnson described the meeting, which was his first in his new capacity as House speaker, as “productive” when speaking to reporters afterward, saying he “enjoyed” the visit.
President Biden congratulated Mr. Johnson on his election and pledged to work with him “in good faith.” Despite their disagreements on essential topics, the president emphasized the significance of finding common ground.
