Speaker of the House on the bill for aid to Ukraine: Even worse than we expected
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, said that he has "seen enough" and will not put to a vote the draft law presented in the Senate on additional funding for national security needs, in particular, to support Ukraine and Israel. He also wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that under this legislation, "the border will never be closed."
On February 5, the US Senate unveiled a package worth $118.28 billion, of which $60.06 billion is to support Ukraine. The document combines border security policy with wartime assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and other US allies. US President Joe Biden called on Congress to "come together and quickly pass this bipartisan agreement."
"I’ve seen enough. This bill is even worse than we expected, and won’t come close to ending the border catastrophe the President has created," he noted.
Johnson quoted "the lead Democrat" at the talks and said that "under this law, the border will never close."
"If this bill reaches the House, it will be dead on arrival," Johnson wrote.
On January 26, he already stated that if the terms of the new bill being prepared by the Senate to introduce border reform and allocate aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan were true, it would be unpassable for the lower house.
The next day, White House spokeswoman Carine Jean-Pierre said that House Republicans were facing a choice: whether they wanted to solve the problem of the border and aid to Ukraine or score political points.
January 19 Trump opposes compromises with the Democratic Party and the White House on border security with Mexico, saying that resolving this issue will ensure continued aid to Ukraine. According to him, only House Speaker Johnson will make a "perfect" deal on the border.
On February 2, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said that the upper chamber would vote next week on a national security bill that includes a bipartisan agreement on border security and aid to Ukraine and Israel.
The next day, House Majority Leader Mike Johnson, a Republican, unexpectedly announced that the House would vote on a separate bill to provide $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, which does not include additional funding to support Ukraine.
On February 4, the White House criticized the statement of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who on Saturday evening announced a separate bill.