U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he strongly supports more military aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, after House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House would vote on a funding package Saturday night .
Johnson has been hesitant for weeks to vote on foreign aid, with some right-wing lawmakers in the Republican caucus opposing more aid for Ukraine’s two-year battle against Russian aggression and threatening to do so if he continues , will try to oust him from the speakership. vote.
“Israel is facing unprecedented attacks from Iran and Ukraine is facing ongoing bombing from Russia that has intensified dramatically in the last month,” Biden, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“The House must pass the plan this week, and the Senate should follow quickly,” he said. “I will sign it into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends and we will not let Iran or Russia succeed.”
in a wall street journal In an op-ed, Biden called the Senate-approved aid package for Ukraine and Israel “strong and smart,” adding, “It should no longer be held hostage by a small group of extreme Republican House members.”
The US leader said Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to conquer the Ukrainian people and integrate their country into a new Russian empire”. The Iranian government wants to destroy Israel forever—to wipe the world’s only Jewish state off the map. “
He said weapons to help Ukraine would be made in the United States, helping the U.S. economy. Biden sought to allay concerns among some fellow Democrats who oppose more funding for Israel’s war against Hamas militants, saying the plan would “continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.”
Johnson told his Republican colleagues that he will vote on three separate funding packages for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as address other foreign policy priorities in a fourth bill The fifth measure for U.S.-Mexico border security.
Johnson proposed that financial aid to Kyiv should come in the form of forgivable loans, with tighter oversight of the funds. But the decision to even allow a vote on Ukraine aid, which is likely to pass with strong support from Democratic lawmakers, angered populist Republican conservatives in the House.
Even a rare vote on the funding measure Saturday night would require Democratic support on a procedural vote before the spending package can be considered.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., threatened to try to force a vote to oust Johnson as speaker if Johnson went ahead with his vote on Ukraine aid, making him second in line to the presidency. Another Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, said he would join Greene in calling for Johnson to resign.
“You continue to pass bills that rely on Democrats and are so out of touch with the Republican Party,” Green said of Johnson on the social media platform X. “Everyone sees through this.”
In an effort to satisfy conservative demands, Johnson said he would hold a separate vote on a U.S.-Mexico border security package that contains much of the bill House Republicans had passed last year, although it was blocked by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Rep. Mike Turner, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the committee, issued a joint statement Tuesday saying they learned in a confidential briefing that there was an “urgent need” to fund the committee. Ukraine this week.
“Due to the critical situation on the ground in Ukraine, the United States must now oppose Putin’s aggressive war,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
At a separate hearing on Wednesday, Pentagon leaders testified that both Ukraine and Israel urgently need more military weapons.
“We are already seeing the situation on the battlefield begin to shift in Russia’s favor,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
Some of the material in this report comes from AFP and the Associated Press.
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