WASHINGTON — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday the U.S. House will not feel “rushed” to pass the $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, signaling a further stall over sending military hardware and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight Russia.
Johnson made the remarks behind closed doors at a morning meeting of House Republicans, who are in the majority in that chamber and largely aligned with Donald Trump, the party’s presidential front-runner. Trump opposes the Senate-passed foreign assistance for Ukraine’s fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The speaker let colleagues know that the House will instead “work its will,” in considering the package, said a person familiar with the private remarks and granted anonymity to discuss them.
“The Republican-led House will not be jammed or forced into passing a foreign aid bill,” Johnson said at a press conference afterward.
Johnson, who rejected a border security compromise that was eventually stripped from the final product, said the Senate’s package “does nothing” to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, which has been the GOP‘s priority.
The remarks from the speaker, who has personally said he wants to support Ukraine but leads a far-right majority, throws the foreign aid package into serious doubt, despite its approval this week by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of Democratic and Republican senators.
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