U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is in talks with the White House as he prepares to move military funding for Ukraine and Israel through the House of Representatives, a senior House Republican, Steve Scalise, said on Thursday, UNN reports citing AP.
Details
House Republican Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that Johnson had been discussing with White House officials a package that would differ from the $95 billion package proposed by the Senate and include several Republican demands. This comes after Johnson postponed aid that would have provided Ukraine with much-needed ammunition and weapons for several months, trying to find the right time to push through a package that would be a "politically painful" issue to raise, the newspaper writes.
"No agreement was reached," Scalise said. - "Obviously, there will need to be an agreement reached not only with the White House, but also with our own members.
The Republican speaker is said to be traveling to the former US president's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Friday to meet with Donald Trump, and has been consulting with him in recent weeks on Ukraine funding to gain his support - or at least prevent him from openly opposing the package.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, who often works closely with House lawmakers, said this week that he and Trump have spoken "at length" with Johnson about how to move forward with aid to Ukraine. It is unclear whether Trump will provide any political support, but Mullin said he hopes to convince the former president to back the package, especially now that Johnson's job is at stake, the newspaper writes.
Republican member of the House of Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green threatened to try to remove Johnson from the speaker's post and warned that increased funding for Ukraine would help her prove that GOP lawmakers should elect a new speaker.
Meanwhile, Johnson is negotiating with the White House on a law that would "structure some of Kyiv's funding as loans, pave the way for the United States to use frozen assets of the Russian central bank, and include other policy changes," the newspaper notes.
Johnson also insists that the Biden administration should lift the pause on issuing liquefied natural gas export permits. At times, he has also demanded a change in policy on the US-Mexico border, the publication said.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Thursday that the "only way forward" for the House is to vote on the Senate national security package. He also suggested that Democrats would help Johnson hold onto the speaker's gavel if he did.
"If we want to prevent Putin from winning in Europe, the House of Representatives must do the right thing for democracy and pass the Senate aid package now," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in his speech.
It is noted that while Democrats are putting pressure on Johnson to bring the Senate package to a vote, they may also be divided on the vote, as they are increasingly opposed to sending offensive weapons to Israel.