Florida House Republican says 'no time to spare' on passing aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan

A leading Florida House Republican on Wednesday called for passage of funding bills for U.S. allies Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.

"The strategic alliance between our most dangerous adversaries, such as communist China, Russia and the terrorist State of Iran, poses a direct threat to our national security," said U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, in a statement.

"There is nothing our adversaries would love more than for the United States to fail to stand with our friends in their time of greatest need. We have no time to spare. Passage of this aid package is critical."

The call to action by Diaz-Balart, who chairs a foreign affairs-focused subcommittee within the House Appropriations Committee, comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure to back off passage of the funding measures.

Nonetheless, Johnson is appears willing to schedule a vote on the measures, even if it may cost him the leadership post.

Last week, Georgia far-right Republican Congress U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for ousting Johnson from his post over her opposition to recent appropriations measures approved by the House to avoid a government shutdown. Diaz-Balart and five other Florida Republicans voted last month to approve the $1.2 trillion package that left Greene fuming.

On Friday, Johnson appeared at Mar-a-Lago with former President Donald Trump. During a news conference, Trump said he backed keeping Johnson as leader of the GOP caucus in the chamber. In doing so, Trump rebuffed Greene, who has been one of his most vocal Capitol Hill allies.

But when asked about the friction in the U.S. House on Tuesday, Trump said "we'll see what happens."

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Diaz-Balart supported former Speaker Kevin McCarthy when another Florida House Republican, Pensacola's Matt Gaetz, successfully called for the Californian's ouster last year.

He was among a dozen Republican House members, along with fellow Miami-Dade County U.S. Reps. Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar, who voted in February 2021 to remove Greene from House committees for past comments, including denial of the 2018 mass shooting at Majorie Stoneman Douglas High School.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida House Republican calls for aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan