The White House said Tuesday that separate aid bills set for a vote in the US House this week appear to meet the long-delayed military needs of Ukraine and Israel.
But US President Joe Biden needs to study the proposals by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson more closely before making a final decision, it added.
Johnson said Monday that his Republican-controlled chamber would vote this week on the bills after after stalling for months over pressure from his party's right wing. Whether Johnson can get his deeply divided party to support him, however, remains to be seen.
The US Senate passed a combined $95 billion package in February that included Democrat Biden's request for massive new funds to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, as well as new support for Israel and Taiwan. However, Johnson refused to allow a vote on it in the House.
Previously the White House has fought for the aid to be bundled together in the same package like the one the Senate approved, but it appeared to soften its position on Tuesday.
“It does appear at first blush that the speaker's proposal will in fact help us get aid to Ukraine, aid to Israel,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters traveling with Biden on a reelection campaign trip to Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“But we're waiting to get a little bit more detail before we say one way or the other.”
Biden, who spoke to Johnson on Monday about the plans, had stressed that “we need to see the House move this week” due to the urgent military needs of Ukraine and Israel, Kirby added.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for assistance as Russia takes the offensive against defending Ukrainian forces, who are increasingly running out of ammunition.
Israel is meanwhile locked in a six-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks – as well as fending off a wave of Iranian drone and missile attacks at the weekend.
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Comments (2)
To date Johnson has been nothing but a smiling, duplicitous snake. The absolute gull to actually visit Ukraine, see its immense suffering and then extend that with months of stalling on even allowing a vote on support legislation. He is a very unscrupulous pawn in putinrumps game.
He represents not the American people, but putinrump. Putinrump says jump and he jumps. He even visited putinrump a few days ago to get his new orders. Putin in turn controls putinrump...same ideals, aspirations and false propaganda.
Its possible someone other than putinrump has made a more compelling argument to get Johnson to finally change his mind, but history says he has done all he could so far to stall Ukraine aid. Even when a GOP negotiated fix to the border was included in the Ukraine aid; putinrump commanded Johnson and his fellow MRGA minions not to approve anything. We've heard many debunked excuses in his 6 months of stalling. Unless someone has Johnson in a headlock and he's gasping for air, as he finally agrees to let the vote proceed.....I'd expect more tricks from this putin funded trickster.
I sincerely hope I am wrong. However at this point Johnson is not a man I would trust, nor one that I consider cares in the least about Ukraine. I still think the quickest way to get a vote on Ukraine aid is to kick Johnson out of his speaker role.
We Republicans are for Ukraine, however Biden is using the war to camouflage his hidden agenda of bringing into the US 10’s of million of aliens to displace white conservative citizens, with a more manageable liberal voter base. Not unlike what Russia is trying to do to you Ukraine’s. Biden will not give you enough military assistance to win the war. The war works in his favor. Get-it?
@Will, YOU ARE AN IDIOT
@Will, how does impeding aid to Ukraine help Ukraine? If Republicans really want to assist Ukraine, get the damn thing passed. Since REPUBLICANS have been holding it up, Russia has made further advances, and more Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have died. “For Ukraine”? From where I’m standing, the opposite is true. As I’ve said before, Johnson, Trump and ALL THEIR SUPPORTERS will be responsible to some degree or another, if Ukraine loses this war. You are one of them.
@Call it out, fuck you!