Speaker Mike Johnson will lead House Republicans in pushing three separate bills this week to send billions to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, DailyMail.com confirmed.
A fourth bill will reportedly include several measures such as requiring TikTok divest from its Chinese-owned parent company, an effort to obtain seized Russian assets, a lend-lease program for military aid to Ukraine and also loans for humanitarian aid.
All four bills would be lumped together under the same ‘rule’ to advance them to the House floor for final passage this week before going to the Senate.
Democrats and Republican have remained at an impasse as the White House has made clear President Joe Biden does not support a package with aid for only Israel.
Instead, he is urging House Republicans to pass the Senate-passed $95 billion package with combined money for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific – a package that hardliners have balked at.
Johnson so far had remained coy about how he will address foreign aid, but called an emergency all-conference meeting on Monday to chart a path forward after Iran’s attacks over the weekend.
It is unclear if Johnson has the votes to get the bills across the finish line in his tiny one-vote majority, but lawmakers coming out of the conference seemed optimistic it will pass.
The two parties have remained at an impasse as the White House has made clear President Joe Biden does not support a package with aid for only Israel
Israeli soldiers exit an armored personnel carrier near the border with the Gaza Strip on April 15
‘I have just spoken with the [GOP conference] on my plan to address national security supplemental legislation on the growing security crises,’ Johnson wrote on X.
‘This week, we will consider separate bills with a structured and germane amendment process to: Fund our ally Israel, support Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression, strengthen our allies in the Indo-Pacific, pass additional measures to counter our adversaries and strengthen our national security.’
He tabled plans for ‘appliance week,’ where the House GOP would vote on messaging bills to push back on Biden’s kitchen appliance regulations, so the House could work on legislation targeting Iran with sanctions and foreign aid for Israel.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., one of the more conservative members said he supports the effort by the speaker and that they are ‘trying to get it done before we go home.’
Congress is scheduled to work from their home districts next week.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., also said he’s happy it’s coming up under a rule and he would vote for it.
Johnson put the $17 billion Israel-only aid package on the House floor in February, but it failed to garner the two-thirds majority it needed to pass under suspension.
‘We’re going to try again this week, and the details of that package are being put together right now,’ he said on Sunday. ‘We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.’
The House passed a $14 billion aid package for Israel in October, but the deal was offset by cuts to IRS funding that led to its demise in the Democrat-led Senate.
Conservative hardliners have warned Johnson against attaching any Ukraine funding to an Israel aid bill.
‘Under no circumstances will the House Freedom Caucus abide using the emergency situation in Israel as a bogus justification to ram through Ukraine aid with no offset and no security for our own wide-open borders,’ the conservative hardliner Freedom Caucus said in a statement on Monday.
Meanwhile a motion to vacate has loomed over Johnson’s head since Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene launched the bid to oust him last month. The Georgia Republican is a staunch opponent to Ukraine aid and has already threatened to try to boot Johnson if he brings it to the floor.
But after Johnson met with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago Friday and said he stands by him, Greene seemed to back off the threat.
She told DailyMail.com: ‘I am one of President Trump’s biggest fighters here in Washington and everyone knows that grateful for the President and I want him to focus on beating these ridiculous trials in New York and winning his election.’
Trump was in New York City Monday for the first day in his criminal hush money trial over an alleged scheme to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
With Republicans’ razor-thin majority, Johnson can only afford to lose three Republicans and keep his job, unless Democrats vote to save him.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has suggested they would if Johnson does what Democrats want: passes the $95 billion supplemental.
Israel has deemed Iran’s 350-missile attack a ‘declaration of war,’ though it said 99 percent of the missiles were intercepted.
The attack was in response to Israel’s drone strike in Syria that killed 12 Iranians, including two top generals.
The Senate-passed bill included both humanitarian and military aid: $61 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel in its war against Hamas and $4.83 billion to support partners in the Indo-Pacific.
Johnson suggested earlier that he would not be putting the Senate bill on the House floor, adding military-only aid is ‘more palatable’ to members.
Israeli armored personnel carriers moves near the border with the Gaza Strip on April 15, 2024 in Southern Israel
‘No American taxpayer should be tasked with propping up the pension system of the nation of Ukraine.’
Any foreign aid bill would likely have to come to the House floor under suspension of the rules, meaning it would need a two-thirds majority vote to pass.
The bill would lose a number of Democrats would oppose further aid to Israel without humanitarian conditions. It would lose a number of Republicans who outright oppose Ukraine aid – potentially jeopardizing its chances of passing.