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 already 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 Republican 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 attack by Iran on Israel early Sunday further ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson, but 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 this week to advance the aid.
"The details of that package are being put together right now," he said. "We're looking at the options and all these supplemental issues."
At a news conference, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said President Joe Biden had 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."
"It's vital for the future of Ukraine, for Israel and the West," Schumer said.
Johnson has also "made it clear" to fellow House Republicans that he will this week push to package together the aid for Israel, Ukraine and allies in Asia and pass it through the House, said GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The speaker has expressed support for legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the way for the United States to tap frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes. Johnson has pushed for the Biden administration to lift a pause on approvals for liquefied natural gas exports and at times has also demanded policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.
But the only package with wide bipartisan support in Congress is the Senate-passed bill that includes roughly $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby called on the speaker to put that package "on the floor as soon as possible."
"We didn't need any reminders in terms of what's going on in Ukraine," Kirby said on NBC. "But last night certainly underscores significantly the threat that Israel faces in a very, very tough neighborhood."
As Johnson searches for a way to advance the funding for Ukraine, he has been in conversations with the White House and former president Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
With his job under threat, Johnson traveled to Florida on Friday for an event with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump expressed support for Johnson and said he had a "very good relationship" with him.
"He and I are 100% united on these big agenda items," Johnson said. "When you talk about aid to Ukraine, he's introduced the loan-lease concept, which is a really important one and I think has a lot of consensus."
But Trump, with his "America First" agenda, has inspired many Republicans to push for a more isolationist stance. Support for Ukraine has steadily eroded in the roughly two years since the war began, and a cause that once enjoyed wide support has become one of Johnson's toughest problems.
When he returns to Washington today, Johnson also will be facing a contingent of conservatives already angry with how he has led the House in maintaining much of the status quo on government spending and more recently, a U.S. government surveillance tool.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, has called for Johnson's ouster. She departed the Capitol on Friday telling reporters that support for her effort was growing. And as Johnson on Sunday prepared to advance the aid, Greene said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it was "antisemitic to make Israeli aid contingent" on aid for Ukraine.
Information for this article was contributed by Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking of The Associated Press.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens during a news conference, Friday, April 12, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens during a news conference, Friday, April 12, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens during a news conference, Friday, April 12, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)