U.S. House Speaker announces aid package bills for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan

The announcement from Mike Johnson comes in the backdrop of an Iranian attack on Israel, as well as efforts to have him removed from the Republican Party camp against providing aid to Ukraine

Yana Suryadnaya
Yana Suryadnaya ■ Foreign Affairs Correspondent, i24NEWS Hebrew Channel ■ 
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House Republican leadership meet with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, DC
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House Republican leadership meet with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, DCAP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Monday night that he will present draft legislation regarding aid packages for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as separate votes but with identical voting procedures.

In addition to the separate aid packers, a fourth piece of legislation will be presented that includes a number of amendments, such as providing aid to Ukraine as credit, use of frozen Russian assets, measures against Iran, and more. 

The planned legislation will be in a backdrop of differences of opinion within the Republican Party regarding the provision of aid to Ukraine, as well as the threat of Johnson's removal from the camp that opposes the move.

If moved forward, this decision would mean that a previous package bill approved in the Senate would be removed from the chapter, and all legislation approved by the House of Representatives will have to return for a vote in the Senate.

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However, the fate of this legislation in the Senate was still unclear, as well as whether U.S. President Joe Biden would support separate legislation. On the other hand, pressure mounted in recent days to approve some kind of aid to Ukraine, as well as to Israel following the Iranian attack.

Another obstacle to Johnson’s proposal was Biden’s opposition to providing aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan, according to previous U.S. State Department statements, though it was not indicated whether a veto would be used against such a bill.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
President Joe Biden, with from left, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., pray and listen during the National Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Furthermore, Biden had been against foreign aid being separated into different bills. Nevertheless, Johnson stated he intends to pass the legislation in full in the House of Representatives as early as this week.

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