House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects the Republican-led chamber to pass an Israel aid bill this week, defying President Joe Biden’s request for a broader package that includes support for Ukraine.
“We’re going to move a standalone Israel funding bill this week in the House,” Johnson said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures. “We believe that that is a pressing and urgent need.”
Johnson, the relatively little-known Louisiana Republican who was elected speaker last week, has said he intends to separate measures for new military assistance to Israel and Ukraine. He said Sunday he believes an Israel-only bill would receive bipartisan support in the House and the US Senate.
“We should not waste any more time and I think we’ll get it through the House this week,” Johnson said.
He has previously said House Republicans would propose a $14.5 billion package for Israel, slightly more than what the Biden administration has requested.
Another battle looming in Congress is over a mid-November funding deadline to keep the US government open. Johnson has told House Republicans he’d seek a short-term funding measure to avoid a shutdown, pushing wider negotiations on a federal budget into next year.
He said Sunday he favors — “for purposes of discussion” — an extension until Jan. 15. To “incentivize the Senate to do their work,” that deadline could potentially include a threat for an across-the-board spending cut of 1% contained in a debt-limit bill passed this year, he said.
