Biden gets behind Johnson’s foreign aid plan

President Joe Biden urged the House and Senate to quickly approve Speaker Mike Johnson’s multi-part plan to get aid to Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.

“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” Biden said in a statement. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”

The White House’s support for Johnson’s plan marks a departure from their insistence that the House take up and pass the Senate’s plan. But it is a clear acknowledgment that Johnson’s proposal is the closest Democrats may get to approving much-needed aid to Ukraine and Israel.

It would also mark a significant victory: The House plan hews closely to the Senate’s White House-backed bill, down to the dollar figures. The House plan would also allow some of economic aid to Ukraine to be repayable.

The White House had held back commenting on Johnson’s proposal until text was released mid-day Wednesday.

Biden cited the need to get “critical support” to Israel and Ukraine, send humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and bolster security in the Indo Pacific as the reasons for their support.

“Israel is facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine is facing continued bombardment from Russia that has intensified dramatically in the last month,” he said.

The White House’s support comes after the final proposals largely mirrored what Johnson personally outlined to Biden during a phone call on Monday night. Crucially, the bill providing aid to Israel also includes more than $9 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, a top administration priority that was seen as critical to convincing Democratic lawmakers to get behind Johnson’s plan.

Biden and his allies had long supported the Senate’s bill, arguing as recently as this week that it remained the simplest way of delivering aid to the U.S.’s allies. But officials granted Johnson leeway to chart his own path over the last few days in part out of a fresh recognition that battlefield conditions had grown dire — and delivering assistance as soon as possible was essential.

The administration’s backing could risk further alienating some House conservatives who have come out against the measure.

The White House has warned for months that Ukraine’s ability to defend its territory was compromised without more U.S. aid. But a bleak first-person evaluation provided last week by Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the top U.S. commander in Europe and NATO, ratcheted concerns within the administration to new levels.

“All signs are blinking red right now, and I think the White House is really concerned about where things are headed,” said one foreign policy expert in touch with the White House, granted anonymity to provide a candid assessment.

Biden has repeatedly stressed the need for the House to approve aid to Ukraine by the end of the week, amid fears that the nation is running out of munitions needed for its air defense ahead of a potential major Russian offensive early on in the summer.

In particular, one worry expressed by Ukrainians in recent days is that Russia will take advantage of the country’s flagging air defense to target energy infrastructure — crippling the power grid, grinding its defense industry to a halt and tanking the overall economy.

“They are within weeks — literally within weeks — of potentially really losing a lot of territory,” said Ivo Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former U.S. ambassador to NATO. “Everybody should realize that a Ukrainian defeat brings the possibility of direct military conflict between the United State and Russia closer.”